BRE has awarded its first NABERS UK Energy rating to Grosvenor’s 87,500 sq ft office building, Toronto Square in Leeds.  

While NABERS is already being used to inform the design of buildings under construction, this is the first time in the UK that an existing office has received a NABERS UK rating.  

The 4.5* rating was confirmed after 12 months of data from the building was collated and analysed by NABERS UK Licensed Assessor EP&T Global and independently certified by BRE.  

NABERS UK is an adaption of the highly successful rating programme NABERS that operates in Australia. Launched in 1999 NABERS is widely considered to be a world leading environmental performance tool for commercial buildings. In Australia, the initiative has helped customers save an average of 30%-40% on their energy over 10 years. It plays a vital role in bridging the performance gap between the design and actual in-use energy performance of offices and creates much needed transparency for the market.  

The rating programme measures and verifies the actual energy use of operational offices, ranging from one star to six stars, helping building owners like Grosvenor to more accurately measure, improve and communicate the energy performance of their buildings. This demonstrates whether offices are on a net zero carbon trajectory and provides investors and occupiers with the confidence that the buildings they own and occupy are aligned with their climate ambitions. 

Grosvenor’s UK property business is working to stretching environmental goals. Its 2030 net zero commitment will see it reduce emissions across existing buildings, developments, and its supply chain by at least 52% by 2030. The business’ aim is that all its office buildings over 1000m2 will have a NABERS UK rating above 4.5* by the end of 2025. 

Fully refurbished in 2009, Toronto Square, which also holds a BREEAM Excellent rating, provides Grade A offices across eight storeys in the heart of Leeds' commercial business district. The rating will provide more information on the building’s performance, helping Grosvenor work collaboratively with its occupiers to target additional improvements.  Grosvenor will also be undertaking other improvements to Toronto Square to ensure it remains one of the best offices in Leeds. 

Rachel Dickie, Executive Director of Investment, Grosvenor, commented: “NABERS UK plays an essential role in driving transparency and trust around environmental performance of the office market. It will soon be the preferred standard for holding investors to account and guiding how to improve existing assets. 

“Achieving a 4.5* rating for Toronto Square is a fantastic result and shows we are on the right trajectory to achieve net-zero. By undergoing this process we are now well placed to undertake further improvements to Toronto Square and have developed our understanding of where else we can use NABERS UK as we push to net zero across our entire property portfolio.” 

Ruaraidh Bellew, Commercial Director, EP&T Global, commented: “We were delighted to be appointed by Grosvenor as the Accredited Assessor for Toronto Square. The excellent BRE training combined with our extensive experience of NABERS in Australia helped achieve the 4.5 stars rating at Toronto Square. We are excited by the potentially transformational impact that NABERS UK could have on the commercial property market here; both in terms of actual environmental performance and asset value.” 

Ruby Smith, Partnerships Account Manager, BRE, commented: “We congratulate Grosvenor and the Toronto Square team on their fantastic achievement of 4.5 stars. As the first building in the UK to receive a NABERS UK Energy Rating, we hope this sets a standard for many more projects to achieve such an excellent rating in their first year and are confident this project will continue to have impact with their future ratings.”