An AA1000 Licensed Assurance Provider can provide Auditor Verification for Green Star PVC certification. The AA1000 Account-Ability Standards, an international methodology for sustainability-related assurance engagements, is considered an ‘equivalent national or international auditor accreditation system’ as endorsed by the Vinyl Council. A Licenced-Assurance Provider under this standard is qualified to sign off on PVC best practice audit/assurance documentation.

Please see the following clarifications for the Industrial Guidance in addition to the TC issued in June 2021: 

10.2 Reverberation - Warehouse floor and distribution areas can be excluded from the assessable areas for the reverberation credit.

17C Prescriptive Pathway: Industrial - This pathway only applies to industrial projects located in regional areas where cycling to work was not practical. When this pathway is adopted, it must be adopted in full. Where industrial projects are located in urban areas, seeking compliance through this industrial pathway will not be acceptable. 

12.0 – Glare Reduction (12.1 Glare Reduction from the NZ version of Design and As-Built Submission Guidelines) - When the guidance for this credit in the Industrial Guidance is adopted, external loading dock areas need to be included as part of the assessable areas, even though they are not typically considered primary spaces. It is important to address glare reduction for external loading dock areas when many building occupants work at the loading dock.

The v1.0 Potable Water Calculator had been updated to provide clear NZ rainfall data and was released in 2022. For healthcare projects using the Healthcare guidance, please copy and paste the rainfall data from the up-to-date v1.0 Potable Water Calculator to the Healthcare Potable Water Calculator for consistency.

The 30% or 60% measurement requirements for demonstrating compliance with Credit 19B.3.2 Structure Reuse is based on gross building volume, as per the compliance requirements.

The current clause regarding projects that are deemed not applicable under the Fire Protection System Test Water criterion (18B.5) refers to Part E of the NCC (the Australian Building Code) on page 188 for Design and As Built.

As a clarification for New Zealand projects, the following amended clause will replace the original clause:

“The Fire Protection System Test Water criterion (18B.5) is deemed ‘Not Applicable’ for projects where:

• A sprinkler system is not required under The New Zealand Building Code, or 

• A sprinkler system is not provided by the project team and does not include a water-based fire protection system.”

Please be advised that project teams cannot use the Household Travel Survey or other NZ Stats data to demonstrate compliance through the performance pathway for Sustainable Transport.

The data used in the performance pathway calculator is grouped by SA2, and so is specific to a small sub-regional portion of the country. Using the Household Travel Survey at a regional level is less accurate, as it can include areas with better public transport, or better walking/facilities than the specific sub-region in which the assessed project sits.

The ecological enhancements to existing features of ecological value can be included in the ‘Ecological Value Calculator’ and can be counted twice but the application should be supported with sufficient explanation and justification and accompanied by relevant plans and illustrations. Where enhancements form only a portion of a feature then the enhancement area entered into the ‘Ecological Value Calculator’ should reflect only the proportion of improvement.  

For the following Indoor Environment Quality credits, compliance need only be demonstrated across 95% of the nominated area:

• Indoor Air Quality:
  • Provision of Outdoor Air
• Acoustic Comfort:
  • Internal Noise Levels
  • Reverberation 
• Lighting Comfort: 
  • Minimum Lighting Comfort
  • General Illuminance and Glare Reduction
  • Surface Illuminance
  • Localised Lighting Control
• Visual Comfort:
  • Glare Reduction
• Thermal Comfort:
  • Thermal Comfort
  • Advanced Thermal Comfort 

For residential buildings, please note that the 95% compliance criteria need to be met for individual dwellings, not as an overall GFA of nominated area. Refer to the submission guidelines for which space types are considered nominated area in each credit.

The Submission Guidelines stipulate that “one (1) point is awarded where project teams demonstrate that internal ambient noise levels, in the nominated area, are no more than 5dB(A) above the lower figure in the range recommended in Table 1 of AS/NZS 2107:2016.”

For the avoidance of doubt, where a single figure dBA value is provided in AS/NZS2107, the noise target shall be no larger than that single dBA value.

Ultra-Low VOC paints can be calculated by volume rather than cost.
For the Innovation - Improving on Green Star Benchmarks credit criterion in Green Star - Interiors v1.2, where it states:
Credit Criterion Benchmark
Indoor 
Pollutants
Ultra-Low 
VOC paints
One (1) additional point may be awarded where over 50% of paints (by cost) specified in the building have a 
maximum TVOC content of 5g/L. This must be verified by one of the approved paint test methods. Theoretical 
TVOC calculations are not acceptable for this Innovation claim.
The following can be used instead:
Credit Criterion Benchmark
Indoor 
Pollutants
Ultra-Low 
VOC paints
One (1) additional point may be awarded where over 50% of paints (by volume) specified in the building have a 
maximum TVOC content of 5g/L. This must be verified by one of the approved paint test methods.