Crediting period

Seven years – The crediting period is the period of time a project can apply to claim Australian carbon credit units.

Relevant section of the Act:

• Act - Part 5

Eligibility requirements

There are general eligibility requirements in the Act, which include:

• newness
• regulatory additionality and funding from other government programs, and
• legal right.

In addition, the commercial and public lighting method requires that:

• All lighting systems have serviced areas that are included in Schedule 4 & 5 of the method.
• The upgraded lighting system must be servicing the same type of area and same building type as the previous system.
• Any existing equipment that is removed must be disposed of and not re-used or refurbished.

Further eligibility requirements and further detail on those listed above can be found in Parts 2 and 3 of the Method.

Relevant section of the Act:

• Act – Part 3

Relevant section of the Method:

• Method – Parts 2 and 3

Exclusions

Subsection 11(1) (f) of the method states that if the lighting upgrade is part of a construction or building upgrade where a development approval is required for the works, it is not eligible under the method, with the exception of circumstances where a development approval is required only because of the lighting upgrade (and not for other work).

Further, applicants should be aware of the serviced areas that are excluded from this method (Section 8 (3)). They include residential dwellings (not including the common areas in BCA Class 2 buildings) and smaller hostels and boarding houses.

Relevant section of the Method:

• Method - Sections 8 and 11

How is Abatement calculated?

In broad terms, the method credits abatement by comparing an estimation of the energy used by the upgraded lighting system during the reporting period with an estimation of the energy that would have been used had the upgrade not occurred (during the same period).

The method estimates the energy use requirements (in watts) of both the old and new lighting systems based on the power of each lamp and does not require proponents to measure the energy consumption directly. The estimation uses deemed factors to establish the electricity usage based on serviced area and lighting control system type. The method also takes into account the climate zone of the serviced area for changes in the energy used for heating and cooling.

Relevant section of the Method:

• Method – Part 4

Notifications requirements

The method requires the project proponents to notify the Clean Energy Regulator of the following:

• Any safety issues that have been identified with the new lighting system.
• If certain conditions are met, any product performance issues that have been identified with the new lighting system.

Relevant section of the Method:

• Method – Parts 12 and 28

Record keeping requirements

In addition to the general record keeping requirements of the Act and the Rules, Part 5 of the method sets out the information that must be kept and includes:

• Evidence that any replaced lighting equipment has been disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the method.
• Where any installed equipment would be required to be listed on the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Register, evidence that the equipment is on the Register.
• Details in relation to lighting upgrades including the installation date and type of serviced area.
• The statement by the licensed person/electrician that has supervised or undertaken the installation.
• Where an upgrade occurs that requires agreement from a third party, certain information, in the form of a lighting report, must be disclosed to the third party and agreement from the third party received before the project commences. Section 12 outlines these disclosure requirements.

Relevant section of the Act:

• Act – Part 17

Relevant section of the Rule:

• Rule – Part 17

Relevant section of the Method:

• Method – Sections 12, and Sections 30

Reporting requirements

In addition to the general reporting requirements of the Act and Rules, Part 5 of the method sets out the following method specific requirements for offsets reports:

• Identification of the location of each lighting system.
• For the purpose of the particular offsets report, information about whether the lighting system is new, appeared in a previous offsets report or is a previous upgrade not appearing in the most recent previous offsets report and the reasons why.

Information must be reported in the format required by the Clean Energy Regulator.

Relevant section of the Act:

• Act – Part 6

Relevant section of the Rule:

• Rule – Part 6

Relevant section of the Methods:

• Method – Part 5

Audits

All ERF projects receive an audit schedule and must provide audit reports according to this schedule. A minimum of three audits will be scheduled and additional audits may be triggered. For more information on the audit requirements of the ERF see Part 19 of the Act, Part 6 of the Rule and information on Audits on our website.

Relevant section of the Act:

• Act – Part 19

Relevant section of the Rule:

• Rule – Part 6

Specialist skills required/
​recommended

Specialist skills will be required to carry out the project with the method.

This method requires that a licensed person or electrician supervise the project including providing a signed statement that they either undertook or supervised the work. Licensed person means a person authorised by law or other regulatory arrangements to undertake a particular kind of lighting upgrade in a State or Territory, such as an electrician or line-worker.

Also, If you are conducting a project using aggregation or providing lighting upgrades for third parties, you may be required to provide a report on the expected performance of the lighting upgrade to the owner of the lighting system. The disclosure requirements of Section 12 of the method require that this report be prepared by a suitably qualified lighting specialist. Suitably qualified people include:

• a Member, Fellow or Registered Lighting Practitioner of the Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand (IESANZ); or
• a Professional Member, Fellow or Certified Lighting Designer of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD).

Relevant section of the Methods:

• Methods – Sections 11(2), 11(2A) and 12