About the Program | Commercial Building Disclosure

The Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) Program aims to improve the energy efficiency of Australia’s large office buildings.

In most cases when commercial office space of 1000 m² or more is offered for sale, lease or sublease the building’s energy information must be disclosed.

Read more about disclosure affected buildings.

Your responsibilities under the CBD Program

If you own or manage a building or area of a building that is disclosure affected then you must comply with the CBD Program.

Unless you successfully apply for an exemption, you will need to meet certain disclosure requirements.

Read about what you need to do if you are:

Watch the CBD Program video

This short video outlines the CBD Program requirements.

Benefits of the CBD Program

While the disclosure obligations under the Program are mandatory, there are benefits to complying even if you don’t have to.

Commercial benefits

Buildings account for about 20% of Australia’s energy use. The CBD Program is helping improve Australia’s office building stock by encouraging all parties in a purchase or lease transaction to consider energy efficiency.

Disclosing energy efficiency ratings provides everyone with access to consistent and meaningful information about the building’s performance. It helps buyers and tenants make informed business decisions and opt for more energy efficient office spaces.

An informed market rewards better performing buildings. It creates a strong market-based incentive for owners to improve their properties, and in turn increases their return on investment.

Sellers and lessors can use the energy efficiency information in their advertising to improve the building’s marketability to potential buyers and tenants.

Operational benefits

Energy efficient buildings reduce running costs for owners and tenants, and increase the likelihood tenants will renew their leases.

Energy efficient office spaces make for a more comfortable working environment for staff, and modern working environments are attractive to potential employees.

Comfortable working environments improve staff wellbeing, productivity and work health and safety.

Environmental benefits

Buildings are a major energy consumer. The commercial building sector is responsible for around 9% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Improving building energy efficiency is a quick and cost-effective way to reduce emissions and energy costs for businesses.

Read how you can improve the energy efficiency of a building

Registers and data on rated buildings

You can look up and compare rated buildings on the Building Energy Efficiency Register. You can also download the CBD Program’s full data set.

We also provide a register of all CBD Accredited Assessors.

Administering the Program

The CBD Program is managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department). We monitor for compliance and work with the regulatory community to help them comply with their disclosure obligations.

The CBD Program was established by the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 (BEED Act). The Secretary of the department fulfils the role of regulator of the CBD Program.