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Green Star Fitouts

Providing a clear, flexible framework to address the impacts of fitouts and unlock the opportunities that better interiors can deliver

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Introducing Green Star Fitouts 

We've teamed up with the Green Building Council of Australia to bring you a new sustainability ratings tool for better fitouts.

"Green Star Fitouts is a game changer — giving owners, project teams and tenants a clear, scalable path to healthier, more circular and future‑ready spaces." - NZGBC CEO Andrew Eagles. 

Why Green Star Fitouts?

Fitouts define the spaces we spend our days. They shape how we feel, work, interact and connect. They carry the identity of the brand, the comfort of a workplace and the experience of everyone who walks through the door.

Fitouts are refreshed every 5–7 years, making them one of the most frequently replaced components of our built environment. Each refresh has implications for embodied carbon, waste, occupant wellbeing and project costs, yet these impacts are often underestimated or treated as short‑term choices.

For a long time, these impacts sat outside the spotlight. But as expectations rise around circularity, climate performance and healthier interiors, these once-hidden impacts can no longer be overlooked.

Green Star Fitouts provides a practical way forward.

096A2614 (Large)tonkinandtaylor_aucklandofficefitout_greenstar_building_image (19)

 

The hidden impacts of fitouts

Beyond finishes and layouts, fitout decisions carry environmental, health and commercial impacts that can no longer be overlooked.

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32% of a commercial office building's lifecycle emissions come from fitouts 

 

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The average commercial fitout generates 368.6 tonnes of waste 

 

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Fitouts directly influence air quality, acoustics, lighting and thermal comfort 
4-4
Fitouts are a visible signal of quality and values 

Green Star Fitouts - a practical way forward

Green Star Fitouts is a clear, practical framework built around six priority areas that matter most. It gives project teams a ready-made pathway to deliver lower-carbon, lower-waste, healthier and more adaptable fitouts — interiors designed to perform today and evolve for tomorrow. 

High-performing interiors never have to compromise great design. The most inspiring spaces can also be healthier, lower-impact and future-ready — delivering better outcomes for today, and tomorrow.

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Circularity
Embeds circularity enablers throughout the design and construction of the fitout 
5-4
Responsible
Recognises activities that ensure the fitout is designed, procured, built, and handed over in a responsible manner. 
6-3
Healthy
Promotes actions and solutions that improve the physical and mental health of occupants.​
 
7-1
Positive
Encourages a positive contribution to key environmental issues of carbon, water, and the impact of materials 
8-2
People
 Encourages solutions that address the social health of occupants 
9
Leadership
Recognises projects that set a strategic direction, build a vision for industry, or enhance the industry's capacity to innovate

 

Understanding the ratings

 Green Star Fitouts offers three rating levels, providing flexibility depending on the ambition and scale of the project.

GS Tool Certified 4 Star Rating_Colour (1)
 
 
A 4 Star rated fitout represents Best Practice compared to industry standard.
 
✅Minimum expectations
GS Tool Certified 5 Star Rating_Colour (1)

 

A 5 Star rated fitout represents New Zealand Excellence
 
✅ Minimum expectations
✅ Net Zero Ready Pathway
✅ Achieves 20 points from range of credits

 

GS Tool Certified 6 Star Rating_Colour (1)
 
 
A 6 Star rated fitout represents World Leadership
 
✅ Minimum expectations
✅ Net Zero Ready Pathway
✅ Achieves 45 points from a range of credits

 

Green Star Interiors | Green Star Fitouts transition

There will be a six-month transition period between Green Star Interiors and Green Star Fitouts. This means clients can register for either Green Star Interiors or Green Star Fitouts and will allow current Green Star Interiors registrations to transfer to Green Star Fitouts.  The deadline for this will be Friday 18 September 2026. From 19 September 2026 onwards, all fitout projects will need to register under the new Green Star Fitouts tool.  

 

More to come soon!

From offices to retail, education and more, Green Star Fitouts adapts across diverse fitout types and supports every stakeholder involved including building owners, tenants, architects and contractors. Tailored guidance will be available soon and we are holding a webinar to provide more details of Green Star Fitouts on 29 April.

You can sign up to join the webinar.

If you're interested in learning more, please reach out to us at greenstarnz@nzgbc.org.nz 

Register a project

Complete the form to register a project and begin your Green Star journey

Find out more

Green Star rated buildings

Explore the growing list of Green Star certified buildings and case studies

Find out more

Technical resources 

Here you'll find everything you need to guide you through your Green Star certification.

 Submission pointers and guidance 

  • You need to be a NZGBC member to access these resources. Please login or contact us to become a member

Green Star recognises leadership and efforts to carve out new ways of building sustainably. Often these sit outside the current benchmarks laid out in the tool, however points are awarded under a separate 'Leadership' credit. This recognises new initiatives with a significant sustainability benefit.


Each project can submit up to 10 innovations to be considered for approval, for a maximum of 10 points towards a Green Star rating.

If you have an idea for leadership in your project, we encourage you to talk to us as early in the process as possible.

How to claim Leadership

  1. After reviewing the section for Leadership in the Green Star Submission Guidelines (Available to members and Green Star professionals), your Green Star Accredited Professional will then need to register a project’s interest in targeting Leadership with the NZGBC.

  2. You will then need to submit a completed Leadership submission using the template below. This outlines the initiative, its sustainability benefits and relevance in New Zealand.

  3. Documentation will then need to be submitted for assessment after registration but before Round Two).

Project teams can provide partial documents or full documents in a 'Pre-Round One' or 'Pre-Round Two' review for each proposed leadership initiative. If the credit is granted conditionally pending further documentation, all the remaining documents need to be provided in either Round One or Round Two assessment. Innovations can't be targeted after Round Two.

Leadership Challenges

In addition to leadership claimed by projects, both Green Star and Homestar have published a list of leadership/innovation challenges. These recognise initiatives that don’t currently fit in to the main framework of these tools but that we believe are important to encourage and recognise. They cover environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives. While some challenges only apply to some tools, others across all our tools. Several current innovation challenges were originally published by the Green Building Council of Australia for Green Star projects there, but have been adapted for Green Star and Homestar projects in New Zealand.

Submission Template

The submission template is developed to assist your project with a leadership submission – these will be submitted to us by your Green Star Accredited Professional (GSAP)
Download the submission template