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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Specific | DABv1 | 0/0/20 | 11 - Lighting Comfort | General Illuminance and Glare Reduction, Surface Illuminance, Localised Lighting Control | It is agreed that for the retail section of the supermarkets, the requirements of credits 11.2, 11.3, and 11.4 do not need to be applied. The more standard spaces, such as offices and staff rooms, would still need to comply with these credits to achieve the points. When this exemption leads to the assessable area being less than 5% of the building, project teams should claim ‘Not Applicable’ for these criteria. The NZGBC considers the outcome of making these criteria ‘Not Applicable’ a more accurate reflection than awarding the point for a compliant area of less than 5% of the building. Where the nominated area is more than 5% of the gross floor area, or more than 1000sqm, the space is subject to credit requirements. | |
| General | DABv1, INTv1 | 20/6/2019 | 0 - General | Green Building Summary Sheets from EnviroSpec can be used in place of product data sheets, product certificates and manufacturer statements as valid supporting evidence to demonstrate compliance for products and materials. | ||
| General | DABv1 | 21/7/2020 | 29 - Innovation | Global Sustainability | The project proposes to submit a Global Sustainability Innovation Challenge targeting the GBCA Design & As Built Credit 25: Heat Island Effect. The proposal to target this credit is granted | |
| General | DABv1, INTv1 | 0/0/20 | 13 - Indoor Pollutants | Paints, Adhesives, Sealants and Carpets | This request is denied. The GBCA acknowledges that the application of intumescent paint prior to weatherproofing may reduce the exposure of VOCs on a project however this is not sufficient reason for the paint to be excluded from this credit. The intent of credit 13.1 Paints, Adhesives, and Sealants is to reward project teams that demonstrate; • No paints, adhesives, sealants or carpets are used in the nominated spaces; OR • At least 95% of all internally applied paints, adhesives, sealants (by volume) or carpets (by area) meet the total VOC limits specified in 13.1.1 and 13.1.2 as applicable. Where exterior grade products are used in an internal application then these must also meet the requirements of the VOC limits specified in the Green Star - Design & As Built v1.2 Submission Guidelines. It is recommended that intumescent paint should be classified under the following category, which has a limit of 250g/l TVOC: • Acoustic sealants, architectural sealant, waterproofing membranes and sealant, fire retardant sealants and adhesives. | |
| General | DABv1, INTv1 | 14/11/2019 | 2 - Commissioning and Tuning | Independent Commissioning Agent | NZGBC would expect that an Independent Commissioning Agent (ICA) will have been appointed to advise, monitor, and verify the commissioning and tuning of the nominated building systems (at the very latest) from the beginning of the detailed design phase/ end of developed design phase onwards and through tender, construction, commissioning and tuning phases. This will allow the ICA to understand the design and make suggestions without overly complicating the agreed concept, preliminary and initial developed design phases. However, there is nothing to prevent the ICA from being engaged even earlier to ensure any potential issues are highlighted as soon as possible. | |
| Project Specific | DABv1 | 0/0/20 | 22 - Construction and Demolition Waste | Reporting Accuracy | Where waste contractors or waste processing facilities do not hold a ‘Compliance Verification Summary’ (as explained in the credit criteria) they shall, at a minimum, disclose to the project team how much of the Reporting Criteria has been implemented. The 'Disclosure Statement' will take place of the ‘Compliance Verification Summary’ in the project team's submission. They can be found here: https://new.gbca.org.au/construction-and-demolition-waste/ It is expected waste contractors or waste processing facilities will fill out the form in good faith and will show how they will be fully compliant with the Criteria within 12 months. If the waste contractors or waste processing facilities does not provide evidence of complying with the criteria or how the outstanding requirements will be complied within this timeline, the credit will not be awarded. Can we please have confirmation of which party(ies), in the waste process are included in the requirement to complete ‘Disclosure statements’ as mentioned above; Waste Contractors will collect waste from site and sort this at their own facility however they may only process some of the waste – eg cardboard, soft plastics and transport other waste types such as Metals, plasterboard, timber,glass, hardfill to a number of other waste processing facilities. | |
| General | DABv1 | 0/0/20 | 17 - Sustainable Transport | Reduced Car Parking Provision | The proposal to determine carparking provision on the peak population occupancy provided by a consultant Fire Report is granted. This is an acceptable and reasonable method to measure occupancy and population density. The Fire Report is a legally important document which is the basis for many items within the building, such as stair width, number of egress routes etc. and is crucial for NZBC compliance. | |
| General | DABv1 | 20/6/2019 | 24 - Sustainable Sites | To be eligible for these points, the site should be initially precluded by either the NES (National Environmental Standard) or the regional authority rules for its intended use before the best practice remediation takes place. Supporting evidence needs to clearly document the contamination present on the site and confirm which rules or standards precluded this development for the intended use prior to remediation. | ||
| General | DABv1, INTv1 | 14/5/2019 | 12 - Visual Comfort | Views | The external 8 meters sight line is required to be entirely within the legal site boundary of project and/or open public spaces and cannot extend into adjacent sites. For precinct developments, the compliance of this credit will be assessed case by case. | |
| General | DABv1, INTv1 | 1/5/2020 | 21 - Sustainable Products | Sustainable Products | Up to 3 points are available when a proportion of all materials used in the project meet transparency and sustainability requirements under one of the following initiatives: Reused Products, Recycled Content Products, Environmental Product Declarations, Third-Party Certification, or Stewardship Programs. As per the Submission Guidelines, Third-Party Certification levels A, B & C are defined in the GBCA’s Framework for Product Certification Scheme. However, New Zealand projects are encouraged to use Third-Party Certifications listed on our website here if the certification schemes are not defined in the GBCA’s Framework for Product Certification Scheme as stated in the Submission Guidelines. This table will be reviewed again in December 2021. |