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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
Localised Lighting Clarification DABv1 August 2021 11 - Lighting Comfort Localised Lighting Control Link
Approved Ruling:

The intent of the criterion 'Localised Lighting Control' in Green Star - Design & As-Built is to provide occupants with the ability to control the lighting in their immediate environment. In an open plan/ activity-based working environment, for example, an office setting or educational facilities i.e. libraries, project teams may demonstrate compliance by providing different lighting zones across 95% of the nominated area. 

It is noted that the lighting zones should be designed to suit different tasks, for example: 

  • Some areas may have soft lighting, such as areas with daylight during the nominated hours. 
  • Some areas may have a high degree of lighting control, including turning the lights on and off and adjusting their light levels and; 
  • Other areas where light is shone directly on the workstation. Where compliance is being demonstrated through varied lighting zones, project teams must demonstrate how all the regular occupants in the project have access to all the spaces provided. The localized lighting strategy should be complemented with a communication strategy, outlining how individual lighting control may be achieved by occupants by occupying different lighting zones. The project team may choose to use the tenant fit out guide to communicating this message. Where projects are delivered with cold shell spaces or where the scope of the rating is base building, project teams can demonstrate compliance by installing a DALI system within the base building which can be utilised by the tenant to deliver localised lighting control.