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
| Technical Question Title | Clarification Type | Tool Version | Month Released | Credit Name | Sub-credit Name | Amendment/Approved Ruling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Metrics for Flicker-Free Lighting | General | DABv1 | April 2021 | 11 - Lighting Comfort | Minimum Lighting Comfort | |
| ASAE 3100 Compliance Engagements for Auditing Requirements | General | DABv1 | November 2020 | 20 - Responsible Building Materials | Permanent Formwork, Pipes, Flooring, Blinds and Cables | |
| Meters for non-base Building Uses | General | DABv1 | November 2020 | 6 - Metering and Monitoring | Metering | |
| Service Risers | General | DABv1 | July 2020 | 13 - Indoor Pollutants | Indoor Pollutants |
Service risers should be entered into “Tertiary Spaces” part of the Area Definition form. Although these areas are non-habitable spaces, they should still be entered as a Tertiary Space, so they are captured under Credit 13 for Indoor Pollutants. This is because the requirement for Credit 13 is that all on site applications of paints, adhesives and sealants including both exposed and concealed applications are included in this credit. |
| ASHRE 62 | General | DABv1, DABv1.1 | September 2024 | 9 - Indoor Air Quality | Ventilation System Attributes |
The DAB Submission Guidelines references ASHRE 62 however this standard does not contain any duct cleaning requirements and is an error. Projects should use the TR19 Standard which is acceptable for demonstrating compliance with the ductwork cleaning requirement in 9.1.3 |
| Pot Diameter | General | DABv1, DABv1.1 | October 2022 | 13 - Indoor Pollutants | Indoor Plants, INN Challenge | |
| Responsible Resource Management | General | DABv1, DABv1.1 | October 2024 | 8 - Operational Waste | Prescriptive Pathway: Facilities |
A new ‘Responsible Resource Management – Operational Waste Calculator’ and ‘NZ Best Practice Guidelines for Operational Waste’ document have been created to demonstrate compliance with Green Star Buildings Credit 4 – Responsible Resource Management. These resources can be used as an alternate compliance pathway for Design & As Built Credit 8 – Operational Waste. |
| Credit to Address All Major Steel Uses | General | DABv1 | June 2021 | 19 - Life Cycle Assessment/Impacts | Life Cycle Impacts – Steel | |
| Make Good clause intent for End of Life | General | DABv1, DABv1.1 | October 2022 | 5 - Commitment to Performance | End-of-life Waste Performance | |
| Pre-approved Credits not required | General | DABv1 | October 2019 | 29 - Innovation | Global Sustainability |
Project teams are not required to have been awarded the pre-approved credits from other rating tools listed under the Global Sustainability credits in Green Star - Design & As Built when making claims under the Global Sustainability credit. These pre-approved credits may also be applied to other tools of Green Star - Interiors where appropriate. The project team is required to outline and supply evidence to validate the claim in lieu of official WGBC member rating tool accreditation. Project teams using all Green Star tools may also target other items not listed as pre-approved, provided they are considered outside of the scope of the Green Star rating tools. In this case, a free-of-charge technical question should be submitted to the NZGBC for approval. For innovation claims within a Green Star crosswalk, the relevant attribute from the crosswalk does need to be achieved to target the point, as these topics have been deemed within the scope of Green Star. |