Chances are apartment owners are asking you for energy efficiency and renewable electricity solutions for their buildings.
This Practical Insights Report presents key findings from the first comprehensive energy performance baseline of residential apartments across New South Wales. By consolidating multiple datasets, developing representative apartment archetypes, and modelling upgrade pathways, the project provides practical, evidence-based insights to support energy cost savings, carbon emissions reductions, and improved thermal comfort across the apartment sector.
While residents can make meaningful changes within their own apartments, upgrades with the greatest impact are typically planned and delivered by strata managers and owners corporations, in consultation with residents.
Energy performance is becoming an increasingly important consideration in building management. It is directly linked to:
- operating costs
- asset value and market expectations
- regulatory and policy directions
- resident comfort and liveability
In NSW, around 40% of apartments are low-performing, creating opportunities to reduce energy use, lower costs and improve outcomes for residents
In this report, low-performance apartments are apartments with a NatHERS energy rating of less than 7 stars, indicating they are less energy efficient and typically require more energy to heat and cool than higher-rated homes.
Download the report (PDF, 15.91 MB)
What the evidence shows
The NSW Government commissioned NSW’s first large-scale analysis of apartment energy performance across different building types, providing clear direction on where upgrades will have the greatest impact. Key insights for strata decision makers are:
Older buildings offer the greatest return on upgrades
Buildings over 20 years old consistently show the largest improvement potential, making them strong candidates for prioritised upgrades.
Hot water and heating are the biggest upgrade opportunity
They dominate consumption across apartment types. More efficient systems deliver strong cost savings, emissions reductions, and improved comfort.
Targeted upgrades deliver measurable results
Well-planned interventions reduce energy consumption, lower emissions and cut operating costs at the same time, particularly when coordinated with planned maintenance or system replacement.
Where to focus: high-impact upgrades
The biggest gains often come from planned, building-level upgrades that address shared systems and building-wide performance.
Centralised hot water systems
- Heat pump systems can deliver ~29% energy savings and significant emissions reduction.
- Strong returns when replacing older systems.
Solar PV on common property
- Reduces grid demand by up to 21% and offsets shared energy use.
- Creates ongoing cost savings of around $500+ per year.
Common area and base building systems
- Lighting and ventilation systems run continuously and are relatively easy to upgrade.
- These upgrades deliver reliable, predictable savings.
Building fabric (medium to long-term)
- Insulation, glazing and shading improvements reduce heating and cooling demand.
- These upgrades are best considered as part of major works or refurbishment cycles.
Turning insight into action
The report can help strata managers, building managers and owners corporations:
- identify priority upgrade opportunities
- support discussions with owners and residents
- inform capital works planning
- understand upgrade benefits and considerations
- plan long-term building improvements
Further reading
Contact
If you’d like to learn more about the insights report or how it can support your work, please contact the Business and Industry Decarbonisation (BID) Unit via [email protected]