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 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
Credit 9.2 Provision of Outdoor Air - standards DABv1, INTv1 January 2021 9 - Indoor Air Quality Provision of Outdoor Air
Approved Ruling:
Despite the difference between NZS4303:1990 and AS1668.4:2012 and the intentional preclusion of AS 1668.2 in New Zealand Building Code with regards to provision of outdoor air, Green Star still recognises both standards as valid references for calculating achievement of criteria 9.2 Provision of Outdoor Air. This is because Green Star rewards points for a rate 50% and 100% greater than the minimum required by these standards rather than policing on code compliance. Recognising both standards does not conflict with building code conformance however brings more flexibility to project teams. The responsibility for minimum code compliance rests with the designer and is governed by existing regulatory bodies, while the intent of the tool is to improve outdoor air rates over minimum requirements. In view of the above, we are clarifying that when the section for 9.2A Comparison to Industry Standards only refers to the AS 1668.2:2012, it should read "the recognised standards listed in 9.2.3".