The purpose of this Health Technical Advice (HTA-2026-002) is to provide guidance on how to implement effective energy and water metering systems within new and existing healthcare facilities.
It is to be read alongside the Guidelines for sustainability in health care capital works and the Engineering guidelines for healthcare facilities, and it supersedes the former DHHS guidance note on metering.
The document explains that understanding how energy and water are used is the first step in identifying system faults and improving efficiency. Correctly designed, installed and commissioned metering systems can monitor consumption from campus level down to individual appliances. Metering data is also managed at the portfolio level by the Department of Health through the environmental data management system (EDMS), and all Victorian public healthcare capital works must meet the data capture requirements set out in the HTA. In line with the Victorian Government's all-electric policy, new gas infrastructure will not be installed in public healthcare facilities, so gas metering guidance only applies to sites with existing gas systems.
It outlines the benefits of metering across the asset life cycle, including operational analytics (commissioning and tuning, equipment efficiency, identifying inefficiencies, measurement and verification, demand response, and consumption trend analysis), reporting (real-time dashboards, exception alerts, management reporting, benchmarking, and tenant cost recovery), and health infrastructure planning (portfolio visibility, right-sizing equipment, and electrification planning).
The document sets out how metering applies differently to existing facilities versus capital works projects, noting that older buildings represent a high-value retrofit opportunity but can be challenging due to limited as-built information. It also addresses cost effectiveness, explaining that monitoring-based commissioning has been shown to be highly cost-effective despite the added upfront cost of metering systems.
A metering and monitoring strategy is required for all capital works projects, covering objectives, stakeholder requirements, metering scope and hierarchy, monitoring and data collection, analytics and reporting, commissioning and validation, futureproofing, and handover requirements. The HTA also specifies mandatory compliance requirements, including the National Construction Code (NCC 2022 Section J) metering thresholds, ‘good practice’ metering (a business-as-usual requirement exceeding NCC minimums), relevant Australian Standards, NABERS metering rules for eligible public hospitals and aged care facilities, solar PV and embedded generation metering, and additional voluntary frameworks such as Green Star and the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP).
On reporting, the document requires metering to connect to a building management system or dedicated monitoring platform with real-time abnormal-use notifications, and it details EDMS registration and solar generation data export obligations.
The appendices provide further detail: a full table of metering applications by end use (energy and water), practical advice for implementing metering in existing buildings (mixed lighting/power boards, shared central plant, insufficient as-built information, and electrification planning), an overview of metering technologies and communication protocols (including virtual metering, BMS, cloud-based systems, and utility smart meter data), and guidance on commissioning and validating metering systems, including the role of an independent commissioning agent and a metering management plan.
Overall, the document emphasises that well-designed, properly commissioned metering is essential for operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and long-term infrastructure planning across Victoria's public health portfolio.
Please note: This document has been prepared as a guide and for information purposes only. No legal obligation for any loss, damage or expense is incurred by any person relying on the information provided.
