The City of Melbourne has committed to being zero emissions by 2040. Buildings make up 66 per cent of the city’s emissions and to reduce this to zero we need to work together. The Zero Carbon Building discussion paper presented the challenges to the Melbourne community, suggested some possible solutions and asked how we can create an effective pathway to achieving this commitment.

Between September 2021 and October 2022, while conducting a literature review, we spoke to over 70 industry experts on build retrofits, to develop our discussion paper. The discussion paper proposed a zero carbon building ready definition, a retrofit rate and seven initiatives to support meeting this rate.

Our community consultation took place via Participate Melbourne from 5 October until 22 November.

Participants were provided:

• our discussion paper outlining the issues
• the option to attend one of four online information sessions
• a short video outlining the consultation process
• a frequently asked questions document
• a survey to provide feedback on the discussion paper and our suggested initiatives, and
• the opportunity to make submissions.

• Representing 3.23 million square meters of owned and managed commercial property.
• Industry aggregators representing 2100 individuals, organisations and experts.

Overwhelmingly, all surveys and submissions except one were supportive of the need to develop a retrofit rate, the zero carbon building ready definition and the initiatives to support its effective implementation.

Of our seven suggested initiatives, the top three seen as the most effective were:

1. Incentives for periodic commercial building disclosure
2. Zero carbon retrofit teams
3. Emission caps

Those that were considered the most practical were:

1. Emission caps
2. (Equal) Zero carbon retrofit teams and Rate incentives.

Check out the attached report for a more detailed summary of what we heard.

The outcomes of the consultation will inform the focus of workshops with industry which will take place in the first half of 2023, where we will further develop our pathway forward.

The residents of City of Melbourne are a critical part of our ability to achieve a zero emissions future.

Along with our Power Melbourne initiative, we wanted to know what other support residents thought would be helpful to enable them to become a zero carbon household.

Between September 2021 and October 2022, while conducting a literature review, we spoke to over 70 industry experts on build retrofits, to develop our discussion paper. The discussion paper proposed a zero carbon building ready definition, a retrofit rate and seven initiatives to support meeting this rate.

Our community consultation took place via Participate Melbourne from 5 October until 22 November.

Participants were provided:

• our discussion paper outlining the issues
• the option to attend one of four online information sessions
• a short video outlining the consultation process
• a frequently asked questions document
• a survey to provide feedback on the discussion paper and our suggested initiatives, and
• the opportunity to make submissions.

• All neighbourhoods were represented, except Fisherman's Bend.
• 80 per cent of people who responded had never responded before.

Residents of the City of Melbourne have some concerns about the move towards zero carbon buildings, but they also had a range of ideas to help achieve this goal.

Check out the report for more detail on what we heard.

Outcomes from the consultation have confirmed our understanding of the complexities of retrofitting their buildings.

City of Melbourne is exploring potential partnerships with neighboring councils to provide support and guidance for strata titled buildings in 2023.