NABERS UK

NABERS UK energy ratings are the UK’s leading performance-based benchmark. Bueno helps owners, managers, and tenants track ratings continuously, cut energy use, and turn NABERS UK into a clear, data-driven improvement pathway.

NABERS UK

NABERS UK Energy Ratings – Performance Optimisation & Tracking

NABERS UK energy ratings give the UK market what EPCs and design-based schemes cannot: a transparent, performance-based view of how office buildings actually use energy. Administered by CIBSE and championed by the Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), NABERS UK is rapidly becoming the go-to benchmark for investors, landlords, and tenants who care about real-world performance, not just design intent.

Bueno helps UK owners, managers, and occupiers move beyond one-off certifications to continuous NABERS UK performance improvement, using advanced analytics, fault detection, and building optimisation built on more than a decade of NABERS delivery in Australia.

 

Nabers UK Logo Bueno Event
CIBSE Supporting Bueno Events

The Problem – Static Ratings in a Tenant-Driven UK Market

In the UK, most energy ratings are still design-based. EPCs and many asset-level frameworks focus on theoretical performance, even though investors and occupiers are increasingly demanding evidence of how buildings actually run. That gap is where NABERS UK Energy for Offices and Design for Performance (DfP) sit – and where many portfolios are struggling.

Common challenges we see in the UK market:

  • Design vs operation gap
    New or refurbished buildings may achieve strong EPCs or BREEAM scores, yet underperform badly in operation. Without an operational benchmark like NABERS UK, that under-performance often goes unnoticed.

  • Fragmented, incomplete data
    Landlord and tenant energy use is rarely cleanly separated. Sub-metering is inconsistent. Pulling together 12 months of metered data for a rating can be slow, manual, and error-prone.

  • Tenant-driven pressure
    Corporate occupiers are under ESG and net-zero pressure themselves. In multi-let offices, tenants increasingly ask for NABERS UK ratings or equivalent proof of performance. Landlords who can’t demonstrate this risk losing premium tenants or facing more aggressive lease negotiations.

  • Slow, snapshot-style processes
    Ratings are often treated as a once-a-year project. After the assessor leaves, performance drift creeps back in: controls get overridden, faults go unresolved, and consumption rises between audits.

  • Unclear path to improvement
    Even when a NABERS UK rating is achieved, many owners lack a clear, data-backed roadmap to move from (for example) 2–3 stars towards 4–5+ stars across a portfolio.

NABERS UK energy ratings dashboard showing live office performance and improvement roadmap

The Bueno Solution – Dynamic NABERS UK Energy Ratings at Scale

As an Australian-founded analytics provider with more than 13 years of NABERS optimisation experience, Bueno has helped transform the Australian office market into one of the most energy-efficient in the world. We now bring that expertise, and our proven tooling, to NABERS UK.

Key elements of our NABERS UK solution:

  • Continuous NABERS UK tracking
    We configure dedicated NABERS UK tracking within our Energy Management module, ingesting metered energy data every five minutes and normalising it for building size, hours, and climate. This gives owners a live view of where each building sits against its NABERS UK target, not just a point-in-time score.

  • AI-assisted NABERS UK roadmaps
    Bueno is currently the only analytics provider in the UK offering NABERS UK tracking combined with AI-assisted, instant NABERS roadmaps. Our platform links Energy Management, FDD, and Building Optimisation to show:

    1. where energy is being wasted

    2. which faults and control issues materially impact NABERS UK

    3. the sequence of actions most likely to move the rating.

  • Support for both NABERS UK Energy for Offices and DfP
    For existing buildings, we align ongoing analytics with NABERS UK Energy for Offices ratings, helping owners prepare data, stabilise performance, and avoid surprises at assessment time. For new developments and major refurbishments using Design for Performance, we provide post-occupancy analytics and tuning to ensure the building actually achieves its DfP target.

  • Tenant-friendly, portfolio-scale approach
    In a tenant-driven UK market, we help owners make NABERS UK part of the leasing story. Building-level dashboards and standardised reporting make NABERS UK performance easy to communicate to occupiers, funds, and lenders across entire portfolios.

  • Tight integration with existing rating frameworks
    Our NABERS UK analytics dovetail with GRESB, CRREM, and broader ESG reporting requirements, so energy performance improvements feed directly into asset-level and fund-level disclosures.

How It Works – From Meter Data to NABERS UK Action

Step 1: Data integration & NABERS-ready modelling
We integrate with existing meters, BMS and EMS systems, and (where required) sub-metering, creating a single, NABERS-ready dataset. Our ML-driven data modelling ensures landlord vs tenant loads, base building services, and common areas are correctly identified for NABERS UK.

Step 2: Live NABERS UK tracking
Using 12 months of rolling metered data, we provide live and projected NABERS UK energy ratings for each office building. Owners can see how operational changes, projects, or tenant moves are trending against target star ratings.

Step 3: Root cause analytics – Energy Management + FDD
When buildings drift away from targets, our FDD module pinpoints the reasons: after-hours running, valve passing, rogue setpoints, faulty sensors, poorly tuned AHUs, and more. This turns NABERS UK from a black-box result into a transparent, fixable performance problem.

Step 4: Optimisation & verification
Through the Building Optimisation module, we identify deeper control and sequencing changes that can unlock further energy reductions without compromising comfort. Changes are tracked, verified against metered outcomes, and linked back to NABERS UK rating uplift.

Step 5: Reporting for owners, investors, and tenants
Finally, we generate role-specific reporting: owner and fund level, property and FM teams, ESG leads, and – where required – tenant-facing summaries that clearly explain how NABERS UK performance supports corporate net-zero commitments.

Bueno NABERS UK Rating Improvement

Who Benefits – NABERS UK Stakeholders Across the Portfolio

ESG Manager / Sustainability Lead

  • Get a live view of NABERS UK performance across all UK offices

  • Align operational energy with net-zero, CRREM, and GRESB pathways

  • Produce auditor-ready, evidence-based reports without manual data wrangling

Asset Manager / Fund Manager

  • Understand how NABERS UK energy ratings impact value, yield, and risk

  • Prioritise capex and optimisation where they deliver the biggest rating uplift

  • Demonstrate future-proofing to investors, lenders, and JV partners

Property / Facilities Manager

  • See which buildings are drifting before it affects NABERS UK outcomes

  • Use FDD and optimisation insights to reduce energy waste and faults

  • Prepare for NABERS UK assessments with clean, structured data and clear action logs

NABERS UK Assessor / Consultant

  • Access consistent, high-quality metered data and building models

  • Reduce time spent chasing information, spreadsheets, and clarifications

  • Partner with clients who treat NABERS UK as a continuous improvement process, not a once-a-year scramble

Strategic Outcomes – Why NABERS UK + Bueno Matters

  • Fewer surprises at rating time
    Continuous tracking and fault detection sharply reduce the risk of ratings falling short of expectations when assessments occur.

  • Measurable energy and emissions reductions
    By combining NABERS UK with live analytics, clients typically see 1–1.5 star uplift and 10–30% reductions in energy use over time, depending on starting performance and building type.

  • Stronger tenant proposition in a competitive UK market
    NABERS UK is fast becoming the performance badge that sophisticated tenants recognise and trust. Being able to show how ratings are achieved and maintained is a differentiator in leasing conversations.

  • Alignment with Australian-grade best practice
    With over 20 years of NABERS history behind it, the methodology has transformed the Australian office market. Bueno brings that experience, and our long-term NABERS work with leading portfolios, directly into the UK context.

  • A foundation for broader decarbonisation
    NABERS UK provides the operational energy benchmark. Bueno’s Energy Management, FDD, and Building Optimisation modules provide the engine room for ongoing decarbonisation projects, electrification strategies, and on-site renewables integration.

NABERS UK OPTIMISATION

Ready to Optimise Your NABERS UK Energy Ratings?

NABERS UK is the most accurate operational energy rating system in the UK. Bueno makes it actionable, predictable, and scalable across portfolios.

If you’re introducing NABERS UK into your portfolio, preparing for DfP, or looking to turn existing ratings into a structured uplift programme, we can help.

Contact Bueno to discuss NABERS UK tracking, analytics, and AI-assisted rating roadmaps for your UK offices.

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