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 access the online Technical Question form here
| Technical Question Title | Tool Version | Date Released | Credit Name | Sub-credit Name | TC Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire System Test Water | DABv1 | June 2020 | 18 - Potable Water | Fire System Test Water | Link |
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Approved Ruling: The point states the following: “18B.5 Fire Protection System Test Water One (1) point is awarded when one of the following conditions is met: • The fire protection system does not expel water for testing; or • When sprinkler systems are installed, each floor must be fitted with isolation valves or shut-off points for floor-by-floor testing.” The aim of this credit is “To encourage building design that minimises potable water consumption in operations.” For the fire protection system test water point It is only applicable to situations where the building and environment benefit from having additional valves or other systems in place which reduce the amount of water used. A single-storey building does not achieve the second criteria above (shut-off points for floor-by-floor testing) by default and nor can they be awarded NA. Teams would need to demonstrate how their project would minimize water use during fire protection system test/maintenance to achieve this credit. |
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