Introduction to Green Star

Green Star was developed for the property industry in order to:

• Establish a common language

• Set a standard of measurement for sustainable buildings

• Promote integrated, whole-building design;

• Recognise environmental leadership

• Identify building life-cycle impacts

• Raise awareness of sustainable building benefits.

For all but Green Star Performance, registration should occur as soon as you are aware the project is likely to commit to certification.

Early registration ensures that the NZGBC can assign a dedicated member of our team to assist you through the certification process. It also helps to set up a clear target for project teams to pursue and hence lays a firm basis for sustainable design and construction.

Projects are reminded that they must receive certification within 3 years of registering their project (this can include Design certification).

Registration formalises the arrangement with the NZGBC for an assessment and certification to occur. Once registered, the NZGBC can support your project through the certification process and answer questions about the application of Green Star on your project, through an assigned NZGBC Technical Coordinator.

Registration is complete when the following has been done:

• You have checked the Eligibility criteria and completed the registration form (we recommend you engaged a qualified Green Star professional to guide you through this process. See our professionals directory)

• the Certification Fee has been paid

Green Star Accredited Professionals (or GSAPs) have the skills to work on projects targeting Green Star and make high-quality submissions as part of the rating. They help ensure the entire assessment process is a smooth, cost-effective and rewarding experience for all involved. A project team that includes a GSAP from the very beginning receives one bonus point towards their Green Star score.

All Green Star Accredited Professionals can be found here

Note that there are three different GSAP qualifications as listed below. Please make sure you choose the right person that can assist the type of your projects;  

• Green Star Design and As Built – for new buildings   
• Green Star Communities – for new precinct scale developments  
• Green Star Performance- for existing buildings  
• Green Star Interiors- Green Star for your building fitout 

If you would like to become a GSAP, please check out our Green Star Training 

The Green Star Certification fee is dependent on a few variables, such as what tool is to be used, the project’s contract value, or whether your organisation is an NZGBC member. A full rundown of the certification fees can be found on individual certification pages.

The following items are included as part of NZGBC's standard certification services:

• Support for your project from a technical coordinator.

• Assessment of your project by independent assessors.
  
  
• An individualised certificate confirming certification.
  
  
• Once certified, a license to use the Green Star trademark to promote your project. For more information, refer to the Green Star brand guidelines.

The following items are NOT included in the certification fee:

• Project specific in depth technical assistance. This is usually done by the GSAP.

• Additional items which are required for a project to receive Green Star certification including energy modelling, daylight modelling and water efficient appliances and hardware as examples.

Step 1: Engage A Green Star Accredited Professional (GSAP)

All Green Star Accredited Professionals have been trained by the NZGBC to guide you through the Green Star process and support the achievement of your target rating. This is not required but highly encouraged.  You can find a GSAP here. 

Step 2: Ensure the project fulfills the eligibility requirements

Check out our eligibility requirements to verify your project can be certified - Design & As Built, Interiors, Performance, Communities

Step 3: Register and pay

Registering a project with NZGBC means our team is aware of the project and can provide support and guidance. It’s a good idea to register as early as possible. 

Registration for Green Star Design & As Built, and Green Star Interiors is available via the only form 

If you would like to register a Green Star Performance rating, please use this form.

If you're interested in certifying a large-scale community or neighbourhood project with Green Star Communities please contact the team.

Once your registration is accepted, you will be issued an invoice for the certification fee. A certification fee discount is available to project developers who are members of the NZGBC. More information about membership can be found here

Step 4: Design rating + submissions

In the case of a Design & As Built certification, a Design Review rating is provided to help confirm you are on the right track before the final certification. The initial certification fees cover both levels of assessment.  A Design Review rating will expire two years after the building’s practical completion.

All projects must undertake a Built rating. This is carried out once the project obtains practical completion and confirms that the finished project has been constructed in line with the Green Star rating. To undertake a Built rating, the GSAP gathers the appropriate evidence for each credit then submits the assessment to the NZGBC for Assessment.

Step 5: Assessment

Whatever level of assessment the project is undergoing, it will be assessed (audited) by an independent third party. For both the Design and Built rating a project can go through two rounds of assessment. 

Step 6: Certification

Once the final rating is confirmed by the Assessor, NZGBC notifies the project team and sends certificates and the appropriate logos to help share the good news

Before achieving certification you can promote your Green Star registered project in writing, but cannot use the Green Star logo or Green Star certification trade mark.

The Green Star certification trademark can only be used once the project is certified. Please get in touch if you have not received the appropriate logos upon certification.

Download our Brand Guidelines

Acceptable ways to market that your project has been registered is using the following wording “This project is targeting a Green Star – Design & As Built  rating.” 

If a project is not registered with NZGBC for a Green Star rating it cannot make any statements referring to Green Star.

Any unauthorized use of NZGBC’s trademarks may result in legal action.

Unless a project has been certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council, it is not permitted to reference compliance with the requirements of Green Star.

Projects that claim to meet the requirements of a Green Star rating tool but are not formally assessed or certified cannot use the Green Star trade mark.

A project should not claim to be “Green Star equivalent” or "Green Star assessed" or “Project designed/built to Green Star standard” where a project is not verified or certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council.

Any use of the Green Star trade marks in such
circumstances is in breach of our rules and may amount to trade mark infringement and ‘greenwash’.

Although highly encouraged, projects are not required to make their ratings public.

Submission Guidelines contain detailed information on credit requirements, documentation requirements, calculations, referenced standards and other resources.

If you are an NZGBC member looking for more details about a specific credit, please ensure you're logged in to our website, and visit the Technical Resources section of the Green Star certification you are interested in

If you are not an NZGBC member, please contact greenstarnz@nzgbc.org.nz to purchase the Submission Guidelines. An electronic copy is $600+gst

We do not test, review, or provide eco-label certification for products and materials ourselves.

Instead, we use authoritative third-party certification bodies and eco-labels, and incentivise the use of products that have undergone these assessments by awarding points towards a Green Star rating.

Products recognised in Green Star:

• Eco-label certified materials and products

• Products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

• Reused materials

• Materials with high recycled content

• Responsibly sourced materials with certifiable stewardship programmes

• Low emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)

NZGBC approved eco-labels

We'd encourage product and material suppliers to get certified under one of our approved eco-labels or generate an Environment Product Declaration.

For new buildings, Green Star Design & As-Built looks at carbon from both operational, energy use and embodied carbon in materials.

• Carbon Emissions from Operational Energy Use: The ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ credit in Design & As-Built uses carbon as the metric. A percentage reduction in carbon emissions (when compared to a code-compliant benchmark building), correlates to a certain number of points awarded, with the maximum number of points awarded for 100% reduction (i.e. Net Zero Carbon).  
• Embodied Carbon Emissions: The Embodied Carbon Emissions credit recognises projects reduction of upfront carbon emissions and long-term storage of carbon in construction materials as a method of temporarily removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The assessment and reduction of both carbon and other environmental impacts are rewarded throughout the whole life of the building.  
• Comparative Life Cycle Assessment: The Life Cycle Assessment credit recognises projects that reduce the carbon impact of their project through materials selection, among other environmental impacts. The prescriptive pathway also recognises embodied carbon reductions through specification of concrete with lower cement content (the most carbon intensive component of concrete) and careful design of structural steel systems to reduce the overall mass of steel used.  
• Innovation Challenges: encouraging projects to target carbon zero (embodied/ operational) and carbon positive targets.  

For existing buildings, CarboNZero certification can be achieved through Green Star Performance criteria to recognise existing buildings that operate to a carbon zero/ neutral standard.   

Yes. We have all sorts of training that fit for different purposes. Training information can be found here