The Green Building Council of Australia with the Property Council of Australia, Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH), Energy Efficiency Council, Facilities Management Association of Australia, City of Sydney, City of Melbourne and CitySwitch have produced a policy framework addressing the potential opportunities presented by increasing the energy efficiency requirements for mid-tier buildings. The policy framework, Opportunity knocks: Accelerating energy efficiency for mid-tier buildings, quantifies the number of mid-tier buildings as accounting for about 80% of office buildings and 50% of floor space in Australia.

Noting the good alignment with the recommendations in Low Carbon, High Performance, ASBEC has adopted this policy, which outlines five immediate actions for governments:

1. Reduce the threshold required to disclose the energy performance of buildings
2. Expand disclosure requirements to new sectors with a focus on tenants
3. Support business through targeted tax incentives for building upgrades
4. Governments to lead by example through higher efficiency requirements for their own tenancies and offices
5. Invest in research to improve our understanding of energy opportunities across the building sector