Key resources

- Green Star certification agreement

- Area definition form

- Brand guidelines

Submission pointers and guidance

- General submission pointers

- Guidance - Submitting for Design Review

Submission resources

- Submission templates (.zip file)

- Submission folder structure

- Submission planner

- Scorecard

- Built streamlining form

Statements

- Modelling producer statement

- C&D waste reporting criteria v2.0

- C&D waste disclosure statement for waste contractors

- C&D waste disclosure statement for C&D waste sorting facilities (CDSF) and low volume C&D waste sorting facilities (LVF)

- C&D waste reporting template

- C&D waste assessed contractors and sorting facilities/suitably qualified assessors

- C&D waste FAQ

- AEM peer review checklist

Projects are no longer required to submit a producer statement from an Accredited Energy Modeller (AEM) or a full energy model report for MAP review. Instead, you can now choose to undertake an independent peer review by a qualified AEM, subject to the following conditions:

• • The peer reviewer must be from a different organisation than the original modeller.

  • The reviewer decides the evidence needed to complete the checklist and verify the model’s quality with a signed peer review statement in lieu of an energy report.

  • The completed checklist and signed peer review statement must be included in the project’s submission to NZGBC.

Important Notes:

• • All costs related to the peer review are the responsibility of the project team.

  • Once a peer reviewer is appointed, they cannot be changed unless they withdraw. If that occurs, a qualified replacement must be selected, and this change documented in the peer review statement.

Please note that the calculators are available exclusively to Members, Green Star Professionals, and users who have purchased access. To use the calculators, please ensure you are logged in to the website with your eligible account.

If you have already logged in and are still experiencing access issues, require further information, or would like to purchase access to the calculators, please contact the Green Star team.

This document provides guidance to project teams on how to use credits from Green Star Buildings NZ on projects registered under
Green Star – Design & As Built NZ

Download the guidance on credit substitutions

- Technical Question and Enquiry Submission Form 

- Technical Clarification Rulings Page

Green Star recognises innovation 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 'Innovation' credit. This recognises new initiates 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 an innovation in your project, we encourage you to talk to us as early in the process as possible.

How to claim Innovations

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

2. You will then need to submit a completed Innovation 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 innovation. If the innovation 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.

Innovation Challenges

In addition to innovations claimed by projects, both Green Star and Homestar have published a list of 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.

All Innovation Challenges should be included within your standard submission, rather than being pre‑submitted separately in advance as is recommended for other Innovation credit submission types. 

Table of Innovation Challenges

You are welcome to submit a new challenge relating to sustainability issues you would like to address

Submission Template 

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

Download submission template

Example submissions

These submissions, from NZGBC’s own office fit-out, will give you an idea of what NZGBC expects.

Exceeding IEQ-C credit template and submission documents

Beyond Green Star 

Financial Transparency Disclosure Template

- Download

Additional Guidance for Universal Design Innovation

Using sustainable building products and materials is a great way to reduce our footprint, but which ones are best?

Similar to how we advocate independent certification like Green Star and Homestar as a way of verifying whether things are done right, we encourage the use of independent assessments of products and materials by third parties such as Environmental Choice New Zealand, Green Tag, and EPD Australasia.

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 assessment 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're happy to work with any of our members to help communicate how their products fit within Green Star. We'd encourage product and material suppliers to get certified under one of our approved eco-labels or generate an Environment Product Declaration.

Mixed-use

This guide addresses the alignment of rating levels within mixed-use building projects looking to target both Green Star D&AB NZ v1.1 (including NZ v1.1.1) and Homestar v5. It presents the association between the different tool credits and provides guidance on which requirements need to be applied where and identifies where pre-defined innovations can and cannot be applied.

- Download guidance

Industrial

This guidance document, Green Star – Design & As Built NZ v1.1 Guidance for Industrial Projects is for all involved in industrial projects including buildings owners, Green Star Accredited Professionals, contractors and suppliers.

- Download guidance

Healthcare 

The purpose of this guide is to provide additional information to help buildings such as public and private hospitals, and aged care facilities where substantial care is delivered target a Green Star – Design & As Built NZ v1.1 rating.

- Download guidance 

Fitout Scope: Guidance for Integrated, Cold Shell and Warm Shell Fitouts

This document is designed to provide guidance to project teams where part or all of the primary and secondary areas in a building are being delivered as Integrated Fitout or Cold Shell.

- Download guidance

Exposure to Toxins certification scheme index

 - Download guidance 

Climate Risk Assessment 

- Climate Risk Assessment Guidance

   - Green Star Technical Appendix

   - Homestar Technical Appendix

   - Climate Change Risk and Adaptation Workbook

NZGBC Members and Green Star Accredited Professionals can access the Submission Guidelines for free. 

For Non-members the Submission Guidelines for any NZGBC tool costs $600+ GST.

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