Environmental Upgrade Funding

NAB Environmental Upgrade Funding gives you an incentive to carry out sustainability upgrades of your commercial property, including:

• offices
• industrial sites
• shopping complexes
• hotels
• restaurants
• education and community facilities

You can enhance energy performance and save money. It’s up to 100% funded over long durations, so in effect energy efficiency savings can then pay for themselves.

Upgrading helps you potentially maintain or even increase your equity yields. Data increasingly supports the idea that sustainable buildings generate better financial returns. As well as that, rising energy prices are increasing tenants' interest in energy efficiency.¹

This Funding can also overcome the ‘split incentive’ that can arise when you pay for an energy efficiency upgrade, but your tenants see the most benefit from the resulting energy cost savings.

The funding model allows a range of cost-effective upgrades for commercial properties in select council areas (City of Melbourne and City of Sydney). It’s also available if you own multiple business properties, even if they're in different council areas (as long as each council offers the product).

Commercial property owners

• Funding financed by local government charges
• Longer term, fixed rate funding
• Savings reinvestments
• Better cashflows
• No ongoing financial covenants
• No security registered on title and may leave other lines of credit unaffected
• Improved market appeal of retro-fitted buildings
• Improved leasing opportunities
• Acquisition and investment advantage.

Tenants

• Energy saving = cost saving (such as energy bills and carbon offsets)
• Contributing to a lower carbon economy.

Common upgrade examples

Building areas

• Foyer and car park improvements
• Voltage reduction and power factor correction
• Lift lighting and motor improvements
• Improvements to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
• Glazing and facade improvements
• Co-generation and tri-generation
• Renewable power.

Tenancy areas

• Lighting upgrades
• Office hardware power reduction
• Kitchen boiler improvements.

We’ve worked with councils to understand their carbon reduction goals and created an energy efficiency blueprint that we can scale up and deliver nationally.

NAB and City of Melbourne

• The Funding aligns with the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings program and supports its ‘Zero Net Emissions by 2020’ strategy. This program aims to cut carbon costs of 1200 existing non-residential buildings.
• The City of Melbourne Act 2001 requires that tenants consent in writing to the Fund before the funding cost can be passed through to them.

NAB and City of Sydney and NSW Government

• The Funding aligns with the City of Sydney’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan. This plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% (on 2006 levels) by 2030. We're also engaged with other Greater Sydney Councils to make the Funding available soon.
• Within the City of Sydney, tenant permission of the Fund won't be required so long as the upgrade costs regularly passed through to (and paid by) the tenants don't exceed the energy efficiency savings the tenant periodically enjoys as a result.

We're developing programs in other Australian states.