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.

The dates in the previously issued TC are being pushed back by one year to January 1st, 2025.

We understand the challenge of providing product specific EPD’s for concrete, and we will continue to work with the concrete industry to come up with a more permanent solution.

Before 1st January 2025, EPDs for concrete can be recognised where:

• The concrete manufacturer has an EPD covering their major standard concrete mix designs, AND
• The concrete manufacturer provides a declaration akin to an EPD (but without verification) from a reputable source. Reputable sources include:
  • The Global Cement and Concrete Association EPD Tool
  • An in-house LCA calculator verified by an independent third party

After 1st January 2025, EPDs for concrete will only be recognised where:

• The exact product is covered by an EPD (i.e., the customer purchases a standard mix design, or the concrete manufacturer creates a customer-specific EPD), OR
• The specified product has a carbon footprint within +/-5% (for modules A1-A3) of a product declared in the EPD. The two products must have the same compressive strength (MPa) and a cement content within +/-0.5% weight/weight. The similarity in the carbon footprint must be proven through a reputable tool.

Low Emission Vehicle Infrastructure would apply only to carparks which will need to be installed for a new buildings.

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.

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. 

For Industrial office/warehouse buildings can each load over 5% of the total power supply to the building be grouped to the function and each group be individually metered?

Yes, the requirement is for distinct, common and major uses to be metered as per the description on page 86 ‘where the electrical load for a single item exceeds 5% of total electricity (power) demand for the project, or 100kW, it must be individually metered.’ The wording “electricity (power) demand” should be taken to mean electricity consumption in kWh.

It is conditionally accepted that the requirement for continuous simulation load modelling is not required in this instance provided the installed engineering design is consistent with the referenced assumptions in CCC WWDG Table 6-6 and the Australian guidance document for infiltration (biofiltration) treatment Adoption Guidelines for Stormwater Biofiltration Systems.

With respect to designing for the ‘first flush’, this should be defined by the applicant in accordance with relevant design standards and the design developed to ensure all of this flow, with suitable allowance for blockage / clogging of the designed media, is treated before overflow occurs.

It is noted that the Greenstar Table 25.1 pollution removal requirements are all in excess of the minimum expected removal rates presented in CCC WWDG Table 6-6 and it will therefore need to be demonstrated that the design and installation is best practice to achieve the required pollution removal targets with adequate maintenance plans in place to ensure continued performance over the longer term

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.

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.