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Architect and biomaterial expert Maria Walker named Future Thinker of the Year for 2023
Future Thinkers Circularity Panel Discussion

 Green Star Technical Clarification Rulings

Technical Clarifications for Green Star represent our answers to Technical Questions submitted by projects, and provide further guidance and reference to others. The list is regularly updated.

There are two types of Technical Clarifications listed in the table below:

General Clarifications

These are extensions to the guidance provided in the Submission Guidelines. They clarify and sometimes supersede the original Credit Criteria or 
Compliance Requirements. General Clarifications set precedent for future project teams to follow. Should a project team wish to apply a general clarification to its project, there is no requirement for further Technical Questions to be submitted. NZGBC Assessors will also use them as precedents to assess submissions.

Project Specific Clarifications

These are published as references for other projects but, unlike General Clarifications, they do not set precedent. They often relate to special 
situations where multiple prerequisites exist for a particular project and are less likely to reoccur to another project. Therefore, rulings set for Project Specific Clarifications are often conditional and will likely vary for other projects. Each project still needs to submit its own Technical Questions and provides evidence relating to its own building in order to have a similar ruling approved for that specific building. 

Should you wish to apply any Technical Clarification for legacy rating tools to your projects, please submit a Technical Question to the NZGBC to 
explain why and how it applies. You can download the Technical Question form here

Clarification Type Tool Version Month Released Credit Name Sub-credit Name Tool Category Amendment/Approved Ruling
General DABv1 1/6/2021 8 - Operational Waste Operational Waste

A Technical Question should be submitted to the NZGBC if there is any uncertainty in showing compliance to either pathway for the credit Operational Waste. Note that The City of Sydney’s Policy for Waste Minimisation in New Developments has been updated to a newer version, which provide guidance to more building types other than offices. The new version is recognised as a third-party best practice guideline for operational waste credit compliance.
General DABv1, DABv1.1 1/12/2023 19 - Life Cycle Assessment/Impacts, 21 - Sustainable Products EPD - Concrete Technical Clarification update
Project Specific DABv1, DABv1.1 1/11/2020 17 - Sustainable Transport Low Emission Vehicle Infrastructure
General DABv1 1/10/2019 23 - Ecological Value Ecological Value

Does plant density in green roofs and vertical gardens affect the ecological value credit?

No, plant density is irrelevant to the calculation performed by the Ecological Value calculator. The credit recognises the surface area of the soil/substrate in which the plants are rooted, not the total area covered by the plant foliage, nor the plant density.
General DABv1, DABv1.1 1/8/2022 0 - General
The Healthcare Guidance requires shell spaces to be defined as primary spaces. However, for hospital projects, some areas may not be completed before Practical Completion but do have nominal fitout design in place. In this case, it is acceptable for project teams to subdivide the shell spaces into primary, secondary and tertiary spaces based on the nominal design rather than defining the entire shell spaces as primary. Note that project teams need to confirm that the proposed design will eventually be built as it is. 
General DABv1, DABv1.1 1/1/2023 6 - Metering and Monitoring Metering
Project Specific DABv1, DABv1.1 1/11/2020 25 - Stormwater Stormwater Pollution Targets
General DABv1 1/5/2021 0 - General

Individual credits for every project are assessed on the content and quality of the submission as per the requirements in the Technical Manual. Assessors reserve the right to not award points to non-compliant submissions, even if points have been awarded in similar situations in the past. Assessors are not obligated to award points due to previous precedents, as the precedents may no longer be correct or relevant.
General DABv1 1/12/2024 29 - Innovation Innovation Challenge

The information provided for the Financial Transparency Innovation Challenge is used to provide relevant information to the construction industry on Green Star costs. The Innovation requires the client/project team to participate in a NZGBC report that publicizes anonymous data from project teams. Note that all results published in potential future reports are completely anonymous and are in aggregate form. No project, owner or consultant will be identifiable from the results of the Financial Transparency Innovation aggregated results when they are published by the NZGBC. We highly encourage all Green Star projects to pursue this innovation challenge. To view the Innovation Challenge please find it located here
General DABv1, DABv1.1 1/6/2024 12 - Visual Comfort Glare reduction

The Guidance for Industrial Projects for DAB v1.0 and v1.1 includes "external loading dock areas" as Primary areas that are subject to the Glare Reduction credit requirements. Upon further industry consultation regarding the feasibility of meeting this requirement as well as the benefits to occupants, this requirement has been removed. External loading dock areas do not need to be included in this credit.