Charter Hall and Cbus Property achieve Carbon Neutral Certification at 171 Collins Street, Melbourne

Charter Hall Group (Charter Hall or the Group) and Cbus Property are pleased to announce 171 Collins Street is the latest building in Melbourne to achieve Climate Active Carbon Neutral Certification. This marks the first property in Charter Hall’s portfolio to achieve this level of certification, while Cbus Property has previously received carbon neutral status for 5 Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD.

Carbon Neutral Certification accounts for the carbon emissions made by a building from direct and indirect sources such as electricity and gas consumption, refrigerants, water and waste. Carbon credits are then purchased to ‘offset’ and create net zero carbon emissions for the building.

The co-owners of 171 Collins Street and the Knight Frank management team have made significant reductions in emissions in recent years, as demonstrated through a 6 star NABERS rating for Energy, Waste, and Indoor Environment, alongside a 5.5 star NABERS rating for Water. The base building is also powered by 100 percent renewable electricity through its involvement in the City of Melbourne’s second Melbourne Renewable Energy Project (MREP2).

This achievement demonstrates Cbus Property’s and Charter Hall’s approach to integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into active investment management and strategic planning for existing buildings to continuously improve performance, reduce operational costs and increase value.

Charter Hall’s Office CEO, Carmel Hourigan, said, “This fantastic achievement is a result of our commitment to investing alongside our partners to deliver positive ESG outcomes and increased asset value for our tenant customers and our investors.”

“When we look across our portfolio, we find opportunities to invest in upgrades to lift existing buildings up to our high standard for sustainability and 171 Collins Street is a great example of where we have done that. We continue to deliver environmental and social value, alongside financial outcomes, across our portfolio.”

“Cbus Property has fast-tracked our net zero carbon commitment from 2030 to early 2022, undertaking NABERS Climate Active Carbon Neutral Certification across our entire office portfolio,” he said.

“We are proud to have an extensive core portfolio of energy efficient office buildings and since June 2021, all base buildings are fully powered by renewable electricity. The next step is to achieve a carbon-neutral portfolio.”

In early 2021, 171 Collins Street became Australia’s first building to simultaneously achieve a NABERS “triple crown”, with 6 star ratings for Energy, Indoor Environment and Waste for its design excellence, renewable electricity supply and operational best practice.