Skip to content

Homestar for professionals

Whether you're a builder, architect, designer and/or accredited Homestar professional, you'll find the information you need to assist you with the Homestar process.

10

Homestar is a holistic tool that awards points across various credits to rate a home’s performance and environmental impact. There are mandatory minimum requirements to recognise design elements and appliances that provide options for keeping the home, warm, dry, well-ventilated and resource efficient. Once the mandatory minimums have been met, you can choose any other combination of credits to reach the points required for your targeted rating.  

 

The home needs at least 60 points to achieve a 6 star rating, which is the minimum standard that can be certified. A 6 Homestar rated home will be easier to keep warm and healthy, more cost effective to run, and more environmentally friendly than a home built to the current standards set by the New Zealand Building Code. A 10 Homestar rating rewards a market-leading home. 

 
Building to a Homestar standard aligns with Metlifecare’s sustainability strategy and vision; to provide quality, innovative and sustainable solutions for the health, safety and wellbeing needs of New Zealand’s ageing population.
Our residents appreciate knowing that, when they reside in a Homestar 7 rated home, they’re minimising their impact on the environment in terms of waste, water, energy and materials.
A Homestar 7 rated unit is built well-above the basic requirements of the New Zealand building code, so it provides a warmer, dryer home for residents to enjoy and typically saves on heating and cooling costs, resulting in lower power bills. Like the New Zealand Green Building Council, we are passionate advocates for sustainable buildings."
Earl Gasparich - Metlife Care

Earl Gasparich
Chief Executive Officer, Metlifecare

Certification process

Homes that don’t meet Homestar standards will meet the New Zealand Building Code but may have poorer ventilation, heating and cooling, leading to  visible signs like mould, and higher day to day running costs like energy and water through less efficient appliances and fittings.  

Step 1: Registration
Your Homestar Assessor will help you register your project (check out our professional directory for an assessor near you).

You can register via the form below
Step 2: Design and build
Use the Homestar tools and calculators to find what will work best for your home.
Step 3: Assessment
Your Homestar Assessor gathers the relevant documentation and submits it on your behalf.
Step 4: Quality Assurance
Assessments are checked through a quality assurance process.
Step 5: Certification
Once the final assessment is complete and your home is deemed as meeting the criteria, you will receive a Homestar certificate. Congratulations!

Continuing to raise the bar

Since launching Homestar in 2010, we have committed to responding to changes in the sector – from improvements in design technique and understanding of New Zealand's changing environmental and climatic conditions, to new products, materials and technologies.  

The latest version of Homestar is version 5, bringing with updates to:
- a new operational energy and carbon modelling tool with targets aligned to MBIE’s Building for Climate Change framework 
- updated requirements to ensure a healthy, comfortable indoor environment and,  
- for the first time also accounting for embodied carbon.
Achieving a minimum 6 Homestar rating under version 5 is a significant statement of industry leadership for those choosing to be ahead of the building code. 
60-70daventryst_waterview_hnz_homestar_building_image_(3)

Our commitment to best practice


By working to Homestar, you can be assured that you’ll be ready for the upcoming changes to the building code proposed under MBIE’s Building for Climate Change programme.
We're committed to staying ahead of these changes with the support of our independent industry advisory committee who regularly review Homestar and initiate improvements as they’re identified.
As a member of the NZGBC, you’ll be notified of industry consultation on Homestar as we continue to update and improve the tool.


2020_07_homestar_solution_street_family_image (27) z

Certification fees and Project Registration

Homestar ratings are carried out by Homestar Assessors who negotiate their own Assessor Fees. As with any professional service, it’s advisable to seek several quotes and compare suppliers before engaging a Homestar Assessor to carry out the assessment. 

The below fees calculator provides an estimate of the NZGBC’s Admin and Audit Fee. Please note, all NZGBC fees are GST exclusive. 

The Homestar Assessor working on the project will use the calculator to register your project, and NZGBC will provide a confirmed cost once details are finalised. 

Download the Homestar fees calculator

2024/25 Pricing Volume Discount (250+) Standard Pricing Member Standard Pricing Non-Member
Administration Fee No Fee No Fee No Fee
Fee Per Subsequent Dwelling $190 $245 $380
Fee Per Typology $705 $970 $1055
*Volume discount is available by prior agreement only. Eligible companies must have registered more than 250 dwellings in a twelve month period and must be a current NZGBC member.

Additional fees:
  • Energy modelling audit fee (Homestar v4 projects and where ECCHO is not used): $450
  • Project amendment fee (where a change is requested after a project has been registered): $160
  • Additional audit round (beyond the two rounds per rating included in the standard fee): $325
  • Homestar Assessors will charge their own fees in addition to the ones in the table above. We recommend getting quotes from several assessors.

Register your project

By registering your project you confirm that you have read and agreed to the Homestar Terms & Conditions

This form will guide you through registering the project with Homestar. Please read the options carefully. If you have any trouble with the application process please email us on homestar@nzgbc.org.nz

As part of the registration for a Homestar rating, please review the Homestar terms and conditions. Please review these terms and conditions prior to completing the Homestar registration form.

You will be asked to confirm your acceptance of the terms and conditions at the end of the registration process.

Homestar Technical Resources

Find the latest documents, templates, and resources to support you in your Homestar certification

All current and future Homestar projects must use the most recent technical manual 

Projects registered under the previous version may certify under that version available here

Download manual

The following templates can be used as part of Homestar submissions and certification

- Home user guides

- REBRI waste management plan

- Environmental Management Plan templates

 

 

 

For buildings containing both residential and commercial activities we have issued guidance for how to apply both Homestar and Green Star.

- Download Homestar for mixed-used buildings

Multi-unit registrations must be accompanied by a Typology Breakdown including:

- A site plan with dwelling typologies clearly shown.

- An explanation of how the typologies were defined as per the definition in the Homestar Technical Manual.

This must under simple or complex typology

- Download simple typology

- Download complex typology

The latest version of Homestar includes a credit (EN2: Embodied Carbon) that rewards projects taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the products and materials used to construct a home. While other (third-party) tools may also be used to comply with the EN2 credit, BRANZ has developed the Homestar Embodied Carbon Calculator (HECC) for NZGBC, as an easy to use tool for estimating the embodied carbon content of a typical home. 

We are making this tool freely and publicly available to encourage industry professionals to consider the embodied carbon content associated with their projects.

Download the calculator

 

Products and materials can contribute to a Homestar rating, but we rely on third-party certifications and eco-labels rather than endorsing specific products. These third parties test and carry out environmental assessments of products and materials, independent of manufacturers, suppliers and the NZGBC.
Products and materials relate to Homestar in two different ways:

- In the Materials category, points are awarded for healthy & sustainable materials.

- Product may contribute to the overall sustainable performance of the building. For example, low-flow water fittings are recognised in the Water Use credit.

Please refer to the Homestar Technical Manual for more details. 

- See all Homestar approved eco-labels and air-quality schemes

 

The NZGBC may award innovation points as part of a Homestar rating. These recognise initiatives that don’t currently fit into the main framework of these tools but that we believe are important to encourage. They cover environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives.

- Download previously approved innovations

The NZGBC has published a set of Innovation Challenges for Homestar and Green Star that any project may target.

- Table of Innovation Challenges

 

Homestar Assessors may suggest new innovations to the NZGBC for approval by independent experts. Please refer to the Innovations section of the Technical Manual to understand how these fit into the framework of the Homestar tool.

Homestar v5 requires some knowledge of building physics. To assist designers and assessors with some of the fundamentals, NZGBC has prepared a brief guide with additional links to useful resources.

- Download the reference document

The following documents are relevant to the High Performance Construction Details Handbook - see below

- Slab NZBC H1 AS1 Rvalues Psi and fRSI - Full

- Slab NZBC H1 Rvalue Psi and fRSI - Firth specific

In addition, some experience consultants are available to assist with calculating psi and fRsi values. These consultants are listed below:

Elrond Burrell VIA Architecture Limited 022 416 9499 hello@via-architecture.net
Joseph Lyth Respond Architects 09 912 9425 joseph@respondarchitects.co.nz 
Denise Martin Oculus Architectural Engineering Limited 021 0239 4980 denise@oculusltd.co.nz 
Jason Quinn Sustainable Engineering 021 184 6911 info@sustainableengineering.co.nz
Murray Robertson Robertson Architects

Prefer email

mail@robertsonarchitects.co.nz 
Benjy Simmons Starke Group Limited 09 279 8617 technical@starke.co.nz
Hamish West Build 3D 027 543 6363 info@build3d.co.nz
The Building Excellence Group (BXG) team BXG 09 889 2190 contact@bxg.co.nz

The High-Performance Construction Details Handbook was written by Jason Quinn on behalf of Passive House Institute New Zealand (PHINZ) with funding from the Building Research Levy and others. The handbook provides ISO standard thermal analysis of the most useful building elements and junctions commonly used in New Zealand. This resource can be used as a reference for thermal bridge performance and fRSI values for junctions.

- Download HPCD handbook

Please note, additional resources are available under the Thermal Bridges: Psi and fRsi Calculations tab above. These include R-Values, Psi and fRSI for slab under H1/AS1

Homestar Assessor resources

Please note, Homestar Assessor resources are only available to qualified Homestar professionals. You will need to be logged in to view them

 

Homestar case studies

Exploring our growing library of case studies and testimonials from some of the country's leading new homes

Homestar training

Get trained up on the Homestar certification process and the fundamentals of sustainable homes