National Construction Code to give even greater focus to commercial building energy efficiency from 2025, as we move to Net Zero emissions

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) is proposing changes to the energy efficiency provisions of Volume One of the National Construction Code (NCC), to take effect from 2025.

The changes – which have particular relevance to building architects, engineers, specifiers, and managers – seek to provide cost-effective, fuel and technology-neutral ways for buildings to reduce emissions and move to a net zero future.

The NCC changes are important to all building and construction professionals, because the NCC is a primary set of technical design and construction provisions for buildings. As a performance-based code, it sets the minimum required level for the safety, health, amenity, accessibility, and sustainability of different buildings.

The new changes cover commercial buildings (Class 3 and Class 5 to 9 buildings) and the common areas of apartment buildings (Class 2 buildings).

Class 3 buildings, including residential buildings as well as hotels, care facilities for the elderly and workers quarters.

Class 5 office buildings for professional or commercial purposes (such as offices for lawyers, architects, accountants, and government agencies, for example).

Class 9 buildings, incorporating public assembly buildings, including health care buildings, hospitals, day surgery; Class 9b buildings including assembly buildings, such as schools, public halls, cinemas, theatres, conference facilities, churches, museums, gyms, night clubs, and public transport facilities; and Class 9c buildings including residential care buildings, such as aged care buildings.

Significant energy efficiency stringency increases for commercial building Class 3, 5 and 9 buildings are a focus of the 2025 amendments, including requirements for building sealing.

As a global supplier of energy-efficient entrances, Boon Edam has long supported the energy-saving advantages of “tight” buildings – buildings designed to curb leakage of expensively cooled and heated HVAC output.

Revolving doors provide a draft block for high-rise buildings that prevents the chimney or “stack” effect that would otherwise allow the air to circulate from bottom to top of building, creating additional energy costs for heating and air conditioning.

Revolving doors – with their “always open, always closed” sealing efficiency – work hand-in-glove with a host of the areas of focus of the 2025 Code areas of focus.

The Code already recognises the value of such entrances (provision J5) where it sets out provisions for the sealing of a building's glazing, doors, exhaust fans and the like in order to increase thermal comfort for occupants and reduce the energy consumption of any installed air-conditioning systems.

It notes that an entrance to a building, if leading to a conditioned space, must have an airlock, self-closing door, rapid roller door, revolving door or the like.

The proposed 2025 updates to the Code focus on a number of important areas which maximise the efficiency gains of sustainable design gained by improvements such as revolving doors and requirements for building sealing. These include, in addition to requirements for building sealing:

Air-conditioning system efficiency, and ducting length restrictions
Insulation
Solar emittance and solar reflectance of roof materials in place of solar absorptance
Glazing
Space heating
Artificial lighting demand control
Pump and fan efficiency
Energy efficiency modelling verification methods, which have been amended to align with stringent increases for elemental provisions

The NCC’s latest initiatives harmonise with the growing emphasis globally on implementing higher energy efficiency and occupational health and safety standards across commercial and industrial building, which is expected to drive demand for sustainable initiatives to improve building performance, including revolving doors.

Occupational Sustainability and Safety Standards

Revolving doors contribute to health and safety objectives by curbing ingress of man-made and natural pollutants, as well as regulating access, managing airflow, and reducing hazards associated with swinging or colliding doors.

They are more effective at preventing unauthorised access and better-managing airflow, minimising drafts. As many buildings age, there are growing opportunities to upgrade outdated revolving door systems with newer, more efficient models.

International organisations, such as the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, have issued guidelines advocating for robust door security systems to enhance workplace safety.

These encourage facility managers to opt for solutions such as automatic revolving doors, which come equipped with advanced safety features such as radar monitoring, interlocking barriers, and emergency exit options.

Revolving doors are highly valued by companies and buildings not only for energy conservation, but also for the enhanced security they can offer at entry points, often combined with electronically regulated speed gates, surpassing the protection provided by swing or sliding doors.

The Bottom Line

No credible building professional would assert that, by themselves, revolving doors are a complete answer to building sustainability needs. They are not.

But revolving doors have earned their place to be considered as one of the first and obvious immediate improvements applicable to Australian built and workplace environments, contributing strongly to Duty of Care obligations in protecting sustainability, health, and safety.

The “tightness” functionality of revolving doors is scientifically validated, including by software developed by Boon Edam in partnership with one of the world’s leading technical universities, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), which ranks in the top 10 engineering and technology best universities in the world. This energy efficiency modelling software is now available throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

Striking and aesthetic revolving doors are a strong element in sustainable design that is immediately accessible to the Australasian architectural, engineering, and construction community, with immediate and demonstrable benefits, such as those sought by the 2025 changes to the National Construction Code.

Michael Fisher is Managing Director of Boon Edam Australia, which is part of the privately owned international Royal Boon Edam group, which provides architectural revolving door and layered security solutions to some of the world’s largest companies, Fortune 500 companies, and companies in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea including financial, data and telecommunications, Federal and State Government, hospitality, health and age care, logistics, retail, and distribution facilities.