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NABERSNZ ratings

NABERSNZ, explained. Your rating, predicted free.

A NABERSNZ rating is New Zealand's independent, government-backed measure of how efficiently a commercial building uses energy: 0 to 6 stars, scored on twelve months of real bills. Banks, government tenants, and valuers ask for it.

This page covers what the rating is, what it earns, who must have one, which buildings can be rated, and what each step costs. Better Buildings by Tether then predicts your building's rating from its address, free, before you spend a dollar on an assessor.

Know your rating before you pay for one.

Predict my NABERSNZ rating, free Talk to a NABERSNZ specialist
A six-storey glass office building on a wet Auckland street at blue hour, every floor lit, the city skyline behind it.
NABERSNZ Energy Measured on twelve months of real bills. 0 to 6 stars. Re-rated every year.
What a NABERSNZ rating is

Six stars, measured on a year of real energy use.

NABERSNZ is the New Zealand version of Australia's NABERS, run by the New Zealand Green Building Council and backed by EECA. It rates a building on what it used over the last twelve months against similar buildings, so the rating rises and falls with how the building is run.

Earned by the building as it runs, and re-measured every year.

Try a rating

3.5 stars Average

79% of listed office ratings sit at this level or higher

4.0 Government lease
Short by 0.5 stars Minimum base building rating for a government tenancy of 2,000 m² or more, on any new lease or renewal.
4.0 ASB, non-office
Short by 0.5 stars ASB Bank sustainable finance threshold for warehouses, cool and cold stores, shopping centres, and retail stores.
4.5 ASB, offices
Short by 1.0 stars ASB Bank sustainable finance threshold for offices, and the NZGBC green-lending bar for existing offices to the end of 2026.
5.0 Lending from 2027
Short by 1.5 stars Where the NZGBC green-lending bar for existing offices moves for debt issued from 2027.
Measured on
12 months of bills
Valid for
12 months
Scale
0 to 6, half steps
Certified by
Accredited assessor, NZGBC audit
Predict my real rating, free Official band names from NABERSNZ. Thresholds from the Government Property Group, ASB Bank, and NZGBC.
  1. 01

    Base building

    Banks and government tenants ask the landlord for this one.

    Rates the services the landlord runs: air conditioning, ventilation, lifts, and common-area lighting. It needs landlord and tenant electricity metered separately.

  2. 02

    Tenancy

    What a government agency rates on its own fit-out.

    Rates the floors one tenant occupies: their lighting, computers, kitchens, and any server room. Agencies rate tenancies of 5,000 m² and above.

  3. 03

    Whole building

    The fallback when loads cannot be separated.

    Combines base building and tenancy. Also the form NABERSNZ water ratings take. Owner-occupiers often use it for a single-tenant building.

The register Where New Zealand's rated offices sit
  1. 5% 0 to 2.5
  2. 16% 3 to 3.5
  3. 17% 4
  4. 23% 4.5
  5. 25% 5
  6. 11% 5.5
  7. 3% 6

700 NABERSNZ Energy for Office ratings listed on the NZGBC rated buildings register, October 2026, including re-ratings and expired ratings. Owners rate the buildings they expect to do well: four in five listed ratings are 4 stars or better. The green bars follow the slider.

What a rating earns

Start with the outcome you want.

Each one has a number behind it and a next step at the end. Three are about money, one is about a tenant, and one is about standing behind the figures you report.

Debt. Bills. Value. Tenants. Proof.

4.5 stars

The rating is the entry test for sustainability-linked lending.

ASB Bank sustainable finance for better-performing buildings uses NABERSNZ as the test: 4.5 stars for offices, 4 stars for warehouses, cool and cold stores, shopping centres, and retail stores. An approved rating pathway can qualify before the final rating is certified. NZGBC guidance moves the office bar to 5 stars for debt issued from 2027. ASB Bank decides who is eligible and on what terms.

ASB Bank sustainable finance · NZGBC Sustainable Finance Guide Predict my rating, free
20-25%

The work that lifts the rating is the work that cuts the bill.

NABERSNZ puts the average improvement available in New Zealand commercial buildings at 20 to 25 percent of energy use. The path to a higher star runs through schedules, controls, plant, and metering, which is where the operating cost sits. An owner on a gross lease keeps the saving. On a net lease the tenant keeps it, and a lower outgoings line is the renewal pitch.

nabersnz.govt.nz See what my building could save
8-18%

Rated buildings sell, lease, and refinance with more buyers in the room.

Knight Frank's analysis of prime Sydney and Melbourne office sales found premiums of about 8 percent for rated buildings below 5 stars and 18 percent at 5 stars and above. JLL found New Zealand offices holding the highest green ratings sold for up to 10 percent more and rented for up to 7 percent more. The register tells the other half: four in five listed office ratings are 4 stars or better, so an unrated building reads as a below-4 building.

Knight Frank · JLL · NZGBC register, October 2026 Predict my rating, free
4 stars

Government agencies lease at 4 stars and above.

Any agency taking 2,000 m² or more of a building, where that is at least half the lettable area, must hold a NABERSNZ base building rating of 4 stars or better on a new lease or renewal, and is told to aim for 5. Since December 2025 every occupied government office above that size holds a rating. If an agency is on your tenant list, the rating is a condition of the next lease.

Government Property Group Talk to a NABERSNZ specialist
kWh + tCO2e

One number your bank, your board, and your tenants all accept.

A certified rating is independent, audited by NZGBC, and re-measured every year. It carries the energy intensity and the emissions figure that green-loan covenants, GRESB submissions, and climate-related disclosures ask for. The annual report stops being a reconstruction and becomes a download of measured data.

Measured at the meter Start with my address
The rules in 2026

The bar is set, and it is moving up.

Government set the first floor. The banks set the next one. Commercial buildings use 21 percent of New Zealand's electricity, costing business $800 million a year, and from late 2026 the scheme covers far more than offices.

Minimum NABERSNZ base building rating a government agency can lease at, on any new lease or renewal. Agencies are told to aim for 5.
4 stars
Agency footprint that triggers the requirement, where it is at least half the lettable area of the building.
2,000 m²
Where the NZGBC green-lending bar for existing offices moves for debt issued from 2027, up from 4.5 today.
5 stars
Shopping centres, retail stores, warehouses, and cold stores join the scheme. The three new tools are piloting now.
Late 2026

Better Buildings by Tether

Predict your rating before you pay for one.

Register on Better Buildings, add your address, and see a projected NABERSNZ rating with the savings, upgrade costs, and payback behind it. Offices, warehouses, cool stores, shopping centres, and retail stores. Free, in minutes, with no site visit. A pre-assessment then checks the projection on site, and that pre-assessment is the first step of any lending pathway.

Building performance intelligence you can bank on.

Predict my NABERSNZ rating, free See how Better Buildings works
  1. A four-storey precast concrete office building on a New Zealand business-park street under an overcast sky, its lobby lit.
    01 Energy for Offices

    Offices

    Air conditioning hours, controls, and after-hours operation decide most of the rating. Base building, tenancy, or whole building.

    Lending threshold
    4.5 stars
    Official tool
    Rated since 2013
    Predict this building
  2. A long steel-clad distribution warehouse at dawn with four loading docks, one truck backed in, and a wet concrete yard.
    02 Energy for Warehouse and Cold Stores

    Warehouses

    Lighting, dock doors, and the office at the end carry most of the load. Long trading hours change the benchmark.

    Lending threshold
    4 stars
    Official tool
    Official tool launches late 2026
    Predict this building
  3. A tall windowless insulated-panel cold store at dusk, refrigeration condensers along its roof and cold vapour at an open dock door.
    03 Energy for Warehouse and Cold Stores

    Cool and cold stores

    Refrigeration plant runs day and night, so compressor control, defrost, and door discipline move the rating most.

    Lending threshold
    4 stars
    Official tool
    Official tool launches late 2026
    Predict this building
  4. A single-storey suburban shopping centre at dusk, its tall glazed entrance lit, with a wet car park in the foreground.
    04 Energy for Shopping Centres

    Shopping centres

    Common-area air conditioning, mall lighting, and car park ventilation are the landlord loads a rating measures.

    Lending threshold
    4 stars
    Official tool
    Official tool launches late 2026
    Predict this building
  5. A large-format standalone retail store in late afternoon, a tall glazed shopfront under a flat canopy, cars in the car park.
    05 Energy for Retail Stores

    Retail stores

    Lighting levels, trading hours, and the split between sales floor and back of house set the benchmark.

    Lending threshold
    4 stars
    Official tool
    Official tool launches late 2026
    Predict this building

Lending thresholds are ASB Bank's, as published for its sustainable finance options. ASB Bank decides who is eligible and on what terms. The three new NABERSNZ tools are piloting now and launch in the second half of 2026; the office tool has rated buildings since 2013.

How to get a NABERSNZ rating

From address to certified rating, with what each step costs.

With twelve months of clean energy data in hand, a certified rating is a six-to-eight-week exercise. Without it, the data clock starts the day the metering is right, and the platform keeps that year valid from day one so the wait only ever happens once.

Predict free. Prepare once. Certify in six to eight weeks. Re-rate yearly.

A building's NABERSNZ rating climbing from 2.7 stars to a held 4.5 stars over 24 months, crossing the 4-star government lease minimum and reaching the 4.5-star lending bar. Four beats are marked along the climb: predict, prepare, certify, hold. 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 Month 0 6 12 18 24 GOVERNMENT LEASE MINIMUM · 4.0 ASB OFFICE THRESHOLD · 4.5 PREDICT PREPARE CERTIFY HOLD
  1. 01 Minutes

    Predict

    Register on Better Buildings and add the address. See the projected NABERSNZ rating, with the savings, upgrade costs, and payback behind it.

    CostFree
  2. 02 Weeks

    Pre-assess

    A pre-assessment checks the projection against the building: metering, data, drawings, and hours. It confirms the rating type you need and whether the target is in reach.

    CostQuoted per building
  3. 03 Up to 12 months

    Prepare

    Close the gaps: validated metering where landlord and tenant loads need separating, drawings to the PCNZ standard, a full year of bills. Improvements go in here, tracked live against the target.

    CostUpgrades vary, your suppliers deliver them
  4. 04 6 to 8 weeks

    Assess

    An accredited assessor compiles the year of data, visits the site, and lodges the rating. NZGBC audits it and certifies it.

    CostAssessor fees typically $2,000 to $6,000, plus the NZGBC certification fee
  5. 05 Day one

    Certified

    The rating is valid for twelve months from the date it is certified. It goes to your bank, your tenants, and your board with the evidence behind it.

    CostIncluded
  6. 06 Every year

    Hold and re-rate

    Live tracking flags drift while it is still cheap to fix. The evidence stays complete, so next year the rating is a download, and NABERSNZ says second ratings should cost less than the first.

    CostLower than the first rating
Illustrative base building climb. Your building's starting rating, target, and timeline come out of the prediction and the pre-assessment. Assessor fee range is NABERSNZ's own guidance; it depends on the rating type, the size and complexity of the building, and the state of the data.
Certification, your way

Run it on the platform, or let Tether drive.

Both paths start with the same pre-assessment, which locks the scope and the pathway and tells you whether the rating you need is within reach. If it is out of reach, that is where it ends, and the conversation has cost you nothing.

A building owner working through a rating-tracking dashboard at their own desk in the evening.
Self-managed

Run it yourself, on the platform

For owners who want control, their own suppliers, and their own pace.

  • Your projected rating, live against the target
  • An action plan with real supplier quotes
  • A board-ready and bank-ready business case
  • Energy, carbon, rating, and payback reporting
  • An evidence pack that exports in one click

You run the execution: your suppliers, your sequence, and your own annual assessment.

A Tether specialist leading an annual site visit through a plant room beside a facilities manager.
Managed · NABERS as a Service

Or let Tether drive

For owners who want it handled, with someone accountable for getting there.

  • Everything on the platform, plus the pre-assessment
  • The accredited assessment, submission, and renewal handled for you
  • Assessment by Dave Annable (RME Solutions), Adam Benli (Zerometric), or Elaine Liang (Sustaina)
  • Quarterly optimisation reviews and an annual site visit
  • Our experts advising your installers when questions come up

The guarantee: if we miss an agreed monthly commitment that is in our control, we credit the next month's fee.

Talk to a NABERSNZ specialist

On either path, physical upgrades are delivered by your suppliers. The only installations Tether performs are metering and BMS integrations. Scope and fees are confirmed against your building on a call, before any commitment.

Why Tether

Built on the rules the assessor checks.

A rating survives on the quality of its evidence. Tether's metering, monitoring, and assessment practice is built to the scheme's own validation rules, so the file that reaches the assessor is the file that passes.

A registered electrician photographing the reading of a newly installed sub-meter inside a commercial switchboard.
Validated at source Every meter signed off, photographed, and re-checked to the scheme's rules.

Metering the rules accept

NABERSNZ never assumes a new meter is valid. Every meter Tether deploys is a third-party unit selected for the scheme and validated at installation with Registered Electrical Engineer sign-off. At least 10 percent are re-validated each year as the rules require, and remote reads are checked against photographed readings.

Base building, done properly

A base building rating needs landlord services cleanly separated from tenant power. Without that sub-metering a building is forced into a whole building rating, and the owner ends up chasing tenants for consumption data. Metered properly, the evidence arrives on its own.

The assessors behind the rating

Accredited NABERSNZ assessors under contract to Tether certify the rating: Dave Annable of RME Solutions, Adam Benli of Zerometric, and Elaine Liang of Sustaina. On the NZGBC public register Dave has more office ratings against his name than any other disclosed assessor, 65 across 35 buildings, 49 of them at 4.5 stars or better. The assessment, the submission, and the renewal calendar sit inside NABERS as a Service.

Proven on a real tower

NABERSNZ 3.5 to 4.5 in nine months with no major capex on a 14,000 m² Auckland CBD A-grade office: pathway prepared, climb tracked, and evidence held the same way this page describes.

Read the story
Common questions

The rating, the buildings, the rules, the money, and the process.

Pick a topic. Anything specific to your building is confirmed on the first call, before any commitment.

What is a NABERSNZ rating?
An independent star rating, from 0 to 6, of how efficiently a building used energy over the last twelve months, compared with similar New Zealand buildings. The New Zealand Green Building Council administers it under licence from EECA, and only an accredited assessor can certify one. It is measured from real bills, so it can fall as well as rise.
What do the stars mean?
NABERSNZ describes 1 star as making a start, 2 as below average, 3 as average, 4 as good, 5 as excellent, and 6 as market leading. Ratings move in half-star steps. Of the 700 office ratings listed on the NZGBC register in October 2026, 63 percent sit at 4.5 stars or higher.
What is the difference between base building, tenancy, and whole building ratings?
A base building rating covers the services the landlord runs: air conditioning, ventilation, lifts, and common-area lighting. A tenancy rating covers the floors a tenant occupies, including their lighting, computers, and kitchens. A whole building rating combines the two. Banks and government tenants ask landlords for the base building rating, which needs landlord and tenant electricity metered separately.
How long is a NABERSNZ rating valid?
Twelve months from the date it is certified. Buildings re-rate every year, which is how an improving building proves the improvement.
What is the difference between NABERS and NABERSNZ?
NABERS is the Australian scheme, running for more than two decades. NABERSNZ is New Zealand's adaptation of it, launched in 2013 and calibrated to New Zealand buildings and climate. Both rate measured performance over twelve months on the same 0 to 6 star scale. Tether works with both. This page covers New Zealand.
How is NABERSNZ different from a design rating?
A design rating assesses what a building was built to do. NABERSNZ measures what it did last year, once it is occupied and running normally. That is why a new or refurbished building needs twelve months of normal operation before it can be rated.
Does NABERSNZ rate water as well as energy?
Yes, for office buildings, as a whole building rating. The energy rating is the one banks, government tenants, and this page are about.
Which buildings can get a NABERSNZ rating today?
Any office in New Zealand, with no minimum size, as a base building, tenancy, or whole building rating.
When can warehouses, cold stores, shopping centres, and retail stores be rated?
NZGBC is piloting three new tools now: Energy for Shopping Centres, Energy for Retail Stores, and Energy for Warehouse and Cold Stores. They launch in the second half of 2026 with support from ASB Bank. Better Buildings already predicts a rating for these building types, so an owner can see where they stand before the official tool opens.
Can a new or recently refurbished building be rated?
Only after twelve months of normal occupied operation, because the rating is measured from a year of real use. Metering set up at handover means that year counts from day one.
Is there a minimum building size?
No. Government agencies trigger their own rating requirement at 2,000 m², but any office can be rated.
Is a NABERSNZ rating mandatory?
Only for government tenants. An agency occupying 2,000 m² or more of a building, where that is at least half the lettable area, must hold a base building rating of at least 4 stars on any new lease or renewal. Private owners rate voluntarily, usually because a bank, a buyer, or a tenant asks.
What rating does a bank want?
ASB Bank sustainable finance for better-performing buildings uses 4.5 stars for offices and 4 stars for warehouses, cool and cold stores, shopping centres, and retail stores, and an approved rating pathway can qualify before the final rating is certified. NZGBC's sustainable finance guidance sets 4.5 stars for existing offices until the end of 2026 and 5 stars for debt issued from 2027. Lending decisions sit with the bank.
What does a NABERSNZ assessment cost?
NABERSNZ says assessor fees should fall between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on the type of rating, the size and complexity of the building, and how good the data is, and that second and later ratings should cost less. NZGBC's certification fee is on top. Tether's managed service is a monthly fee quoted against the building, and the predicted rating on Better Buildings is free.
How do we improve a NABERSNZ rating?
Most buildings gain stars from operating changes before any capital works: after-hours schedules, air conditioning controls and setpoints, lighting hours, and fixing plant that drifted from its commissioning. The Auckland tower in our story moved from 3.5 to 4.5 stars in nine months this way. The prediction on Better Buildings ranks these moves by payback for your building.
Is a rated building worth more?
Knight Frank found rated prime offices in Sydney and Melbourne sold at premiums of about 8 percent below 5 stars and 18 percent at 5 stars and above. JLL found New Zealand offices with the highest green ratings sold for up to 10 percent more and rented for up to 7 percent more.
How long does it take to get a NABERSNZ rating?
With twelve months of clean energy data and up-to-date drawings, a certified rating generally takes six to eight weeks from engaging the assessor. Without the data, the year starts when the metering is right. A predicted rating on Better Buildings takes minutes.
What information does an assessor need?
Twelve months of energy bills and meter data for every supply in the rating, survey drawings of the floor areas to the PCNZ standard, occupancy hours, and, for tenancy and whole building ratings, computer counts. Where sub-meters are used, their validation records.
Who certifies the rating, and who does Tether use?
Only a NABERSNZ accredited assessor can certify a rating, and NZGBC audits it. Tether's assessments are carried out by accredited assessors under contract to Tether: Dave Annable of RME Solutions Limited, Adam Benli of Zerometric, and Elaine Liang of Sustaina. On the NZGBC rated buildings register in October 2026, Dave Annable had 65 listed office ratings across 35 buildings, more than any other assessor whose name is disclosed, and Adam Benli had 26 across 14. The assessment is organised inside the service and lodged when the data supports it.
Do we need to install new equipment first?
No. It starts with the data the building already has. Metering is added only where a base building rating needs landlord and tenant loads separated, and the only installations Tether performs are metering and BMS integrations.
Can Tether take over a rating we already hold?
Yes. We track it, keep the evidence complete, and organise each re-rating.
Is Tether's metering compliant for NABERS and NABERSNZ ratings?
Yes. The NABERS rules test metering installations, not brands: every non-utility meter used in a rating must be validated, with CT ratios, wiring, and remote reads checked by a licensed electrician or electrical engineer and the evidence retained for the assessor. That is the compliance test, and it is the one Tether builds for. Rating data comes from utility meters first, then from validated metering or BMS data the building already has, then from new utility-grade, MID-certified meters we specify where coverage is missing. Every meter Tether installs is validated at installation with Registered Electrical Engineer sign-off and re-validated on the cycle the rules require.
Does Tether make its own energy meters?
No, and that is deliberate. Tether builds some of its own sensing hardware, but every energy meter we deploy is a third-party product chosen for the job: the building, the loads, and the standard the outcome demands. A NABERSNZ rating calls for validated, scheme-ready metering. Fast interval data on a live retrofit calls for something different. We are paid for the outcome, so the meter only ever has to fit your building and the rules.
Can Tether use the metering and BMS my building already has?
That is the first question we ask. The rules prefer utility meter data, and a BMS or existing sub-metering can carry the rating once validation confirms it is measuring the right loads correctly. So we start with what the building has, integrate with it, and specify new metering through third-party suppliers or your own supply chain only where the rating needs it.
What does the certification work cost?
NABERS as a Service is a monthly fee, and the self-managed platform is scoped the same way: against the building, its metering, its data condition, and the rating you need. We confirm scope and fees on a call before any commitment, and the pre-assessment tells you whether the rating you need is in reach.
Who delivers the physical upgrades?
Your suppliers do, or partners from our marketplace. Tether assesses, plans, meters, tracks, and manages certification; it does not install or project manage physical works. On NABERS as a Service, our experts advise your installers directly when questions come up on site.
Does Tether work with NABERS in Australia?
Yes. NABERS Energy ratings for Australian offices run on the same measured, twelve-month basis, and Tether's metering and tracking work the same way across the Tasman. Talk to us about an Australian building. This page covers New Zealand.
Next step

Start with the address.

Better Buildings shows you the projected rating, what it would take to lift it, and what that is worth, in minutes and free. If you would rather talk first, a NABERSNZ specialist replies with the target, the state of your data, and the next step. Scope is confirmed before anything starts, and if a rating is not worth it for your building, we will say so.

Predict my NABERSNZ rating, free Talk to a NABERSNZ specialist