Funding your retrofit
The City of Melbourne can now help building owners obtain finance for retrofit works that will reduce energy use, save water and lower carbon emissions through the city’s 1200 Buildings Program.
An amendment to Victorian legislation means financial institutions will be able to advance funds to commercial building owners for environmental retrofitting works.
These funds will be recovered by the City of Melbourne through a charge linked to rates collection.
The City of Melbourne has developed the financial mechanism with banks to build incentive for environmental retrofits and overcome the difficulty that many building owners had accessing capital to finance their environmental projects.
By providing the legislative amendment to the City of Melbourne Act to bring this financial mechanism to life, the Victorian Government is working with the City of Melbourne to ease the financial burden of retrofits and work with the common interests of building owners and tenants in improving the environmental quality of commercial buildings for future generations.
Download and read the Environmental Upgrade Agreement (PDF, 139kb)
Download and read the Environmental Upgrade Agreement (text only, 401kb)
Are you a building owner or manager? If you are interested in becoming a 1200 Buildings partner, or just finding out more about the program register your interest.
Finance organisations
A variety of organisations have finance available for energy efficiency retrofits.
Sustainable Melbourne Fund
Sustainable Melbourne Fund is a $5 million initiative of the City of Melbourne to provide financial assistance and investment in specific projects that enhance the environment, community and economic benefits for the people of Melbourne.
For more information visit the Sustainable Melbourne Fund site.
Green Building Fund
Round seven of the Green Building Fund closed on 29 March 2011. The Green Building Fund is one of the three elements of the Federal Government’s $240 million Clean Business Australia initiative. Stream A of the fund was available to building owners and provided grants of between $50,000 and $500,000 (representing up to 50% of a project’s cost) to reduce energy consumption in buildings through retrofits or retrocommissioning. The Green Building Fund may be superceded by the Federal Government's Tax Breaks for Green Buildings.
Tax Breaks for Green Buildings
From 1 July 2011, businesses that invest in eligible assets or capital works to improve the energy efficiency of their existing buildings – from 2 stars or lower to 4 stars or higher – will be able to apply for a one-off bonus tax deduction.
The incentive will enable businesses to claim a bonus tax deduction of 50 per cent of the cost of the eligible assets or capital works.
Smart Water Fund
The Smart Water Fund provides grants to individuals, community groups and businesses to undertake water saving projects. It is a joint program of the Victorian government and Victorian water suppliers.
Sustainability Fund
The Sustainability Fund has provided more than $60 million in funding to encourage the environmentally sustainable use of resources and best practice in waste management. It was established by the Victorian government.