EG breathes new life into existing office buildings
Fund rejuvenates office assets with market-leading ESG outcomes
The EG Delta Fund is working to transition existing Australian office buildings, repositioning them to achieve market-leading ESG outcomes.
~$30m
CEFC investment
5 Star
NABERS Energy
ESG
optimisation
The Delta Fund will deliver a prime experience for tenants by implementing intelligent ESG strategies in upgrading the built environment whilst reducing emissions towards zero.Roger ParkerManaging Director, EG
Our investment
The CEFC has worked with investment manager EG for more than a decade to support the repositioning of underperforming commercial property assets as high-performance, energy efficient office spaces through the strategic use of clean energy technologies.
In a first-of-its-kind Australian initiative, the EG-managed High Income Sustainable Office Trust (HISOT), which launched in 2015, included energy efficiency outcomes as part of its core investment strategy.
HISOT acquired four assets that underwent upgrades with a goal of achieving an average National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy rating of 4.5 stars across the portfolio, and improvements in energy efficiency of at least 30 per cent for each asset.
The CEFC was a cornerstone investor in HISOT, which became EG Delta Property Fund (EG Delta) in 2022. The fund raised its sustainability ambitions to target zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, reporting against a framework that encompasses 18 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. The CEFC commitment to EG Delta was circa $30 million in 2025. Other investors include Uniting Financial Services and Deakin University.
Outperforming original targets
EG reported in December 2024 that EG Delta had outperformed its original strategic targets, achieving a NABERS Energy weighted average rating of 5 stars across the portfolio. The result reflects an uplift of 2.9 stars on average for each property and demonstrates how combining real time data and building analytics with energy efficient technologies and rooftop solar have helped optimise building energy performance. Using the international organisation GRESB to benchmark its ESG achievements, the portfolio achieved a score of 85 in 2024 – well above the above the average of 74.
By focusing on each asset’s potential, pricing in ESG risk and opportunity, EG is ensuring that ESG impact is being delivered along with a strong financial return.James McAdamFund Manager, EG Delta Property Fund
Our Impact
Investing to drive long-term targets
Buildings account for more than 50 per cent of electricity consumption in Australia and contribute up to 25 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions.
Some 80 per cent of the buildings we have today will exist in 2050, making existing buildings a critical property market segment for investment to improve sustainability outcomes. The World Economic Forum says that to reach net zero, we need to pick up the pace of retrofitting older building stock globally from around one per cent to at least three per cent per year.1
Prime-grade assets have made significant progress towards achieving net zero emissions. However, further investment and innovation are required in existing secondary-grade assets, particularly in the areas of building electrification, tenant emissions, and reductions in embodied carbon.
A global alliance of green building organisations, including the Green Building Council of Australia, has acknowledged that bridging the gap between high-performing and underperforming buildings is essential to achieving global decarbonisation goals. In November 2024 the alliance called for action on sustainable finance to bring existing buildings up to modern sustainability standards.2
The CEFC is an active investor across the property sector, operating to optimise emissions performance and achieve long-term sustainability targets, recognising opportunities to reduce emissions across the investment lifecycle.
The CEFC commitment to the EG Delta Fund demonstrates the commercial potential of various technologies to reduce emissions. ESG-performing and energy-efficient buildings have lower operating costs. They also have the potential to provide higher net operating income and lower vacancy rates, delivering clear benefits to building owners, investors, and tenants.
EG Delta targets zero emissions
EG is targeting zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 across the EG Delta portfolio, enabled by the use of smart building management, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable energy agreements. Importantly, it will not rely on carbon offsets or Renewable Energy Certificates.
Portfolio assets:
- In Canberra, 42 Macquarie Street with multiple embassies as tenants.
- In Brisbane: 95 North Quay, with multiple legal practice tenants
- In Sydney, 965 Botany Road, home to the Botany police station
- In Canberra, 1 Queen Street Victoria Terrace is home to the National Archives. Having achieved a 4.5-star NABERS Energy, rating up from a 1-star rating at the time of acquisition, EG Delta sold the property in April 2025.
A framework to encourage ESG improvement.
The Delta framework measures ESG impact across 18 criteria, under the broader themes of climate change, land and water, health and wellbeing, empowerment and inclusiveness.
Measures undertaken to improve ESG outcomes for the portfolio include:
- Deploying the Avani building analytics platform across the portfolio to focus on improving asset energy efficiency and enable load-shifting to less carbon-intensive periods of the day
- Ongoing deployment of on-site renewable energy, to with the energy generated to be shared across assets and with tenants.
1. World Economic Forum, To create net-zero cities we need to look hard at our older buildings
2. Media release: Global alliance unveils new report to unlock billions for decarbonising buildings at scale
