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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
Preliminary Design and Schematic Design DABv1, INTv1 December 2020 0 - General, 1 - Green Star Accredited Professional Accredited Professional, General
Approved Ruling:
Where the credit refers to “Schematic Design”, this should read “Preliminary Design” which is the term more commonly used in New Zealand. It is noted that legacy rating tools require “Concept Design” as the required start point to engage with a Green Star Accredited Professional. With this clarification issued, a Green Star Accredited Professional will need to be engaged at the preliminary design stage. This change has been discussed and identified acceptable as it still fulfills the aim of the credit. However, the NZGBC still encourages project teams to involve Green Star Accredited Professionals as early as possible, ideally from the concept design stage, to eliminate risks in pursuing a Green Star rating.