We’ve written a new guide for developers and project teams approaching Green Star Buildings for the first time.
It’s in response to industry feedback that for Green Star to be more mainstream across the construction sector, the process needs to be clearer and more cost-effective. This new guide provides a clear path toward certification , helping unlock benefits such as sustainable finance and meeting tenant expectations.
Green Star Buildings awards points across various key performance and environmental categories to assess a project's sustainability.
A project must meet a number of mandatory criteria for a lower-carbon, higher-performing project, before using a combination of optional credits to achieve a rating.
For Green Star Buildings a project will need at least 15 points (a 4 Green Star rating) to be successfully certified.
Read more about the Green Star system and the different ratings here
“We’re trying to remove the guesswork, by setting out a typical pathway to achieve a 4 Star Green Star rating — when each decision needs to be made and who on the team is responsible,” says Joe Quad, NZ Green Building Council technical development lead and author of the new guidance.
“A 4 Star Green Star rating is the entry point to certification, and is a worthwhile achievement for most building projects. It represents best practice — a verified standard that sits meaningfully above what the Building Code requires and above what most of the market delivers, helping you stand out in the crowd,” says Quad.
“Recommended credits were based on consultation with experienced Green Star professionals, and on the ability for the industry to deliver. Most of these credits are very similar to requirements in previous Green Star versions, which have been delivered hundreds of times so there is abundant knowledge to meet these standards,” says Quad.
Green Star has been used in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2007. Since that time, many professionals have been trained in, and gained experience working with, this tool. Over the years, many resources have been created to facilitate the process of achieving a certification making certification more accessible than ever before.
Research consistently shows that certified buildings have lower vacancy rates, and command higher value and rent. These benefits can be recognised by not just the top end buildings built with big budgets, but by all those striving for best practice.
More on this research here JLL's Turning Green to Gold report
A 4 Star Green Star rating also makes the building eligible for sustainable finance.
More about sustainable finance plus our sustainable finance guide here: https://nzgbc.org.nz/sustainable-finance
In addition to the minimum expectations, which must be achieved by all projects targeting Green Star, a full list of suggested credits is also included in this new guide.
It shows one possible pathway to the 15 points which are required for a 4 Star rating. This list of credits is considered readily achievable, based on product availability and industry knowledge.
“The credits included in this new guideline aren’t ‘better’ or ‘more important’ than other credits in the Submission Guidelines but are more easily achievable in the majority of building types,” says Quad.
There are some situations where building constraints are not well suited to these sustainability initiatives in the guide and other credits may need to be considered.
Projects are encouraged to review the full list of credits within the Submission Guidelines to assess if any credits not included here may be more appropriate for their specific project. There may be site or project constrains which make these credits more difficult to achieve and alternatively an organisation may already have policies in place that align well with other credits.
“With Green Star Buildings, a 4 Star level represents current best practice with 5 Star and 6 Star being much high levels of ambition at NZ and world excellence,” says NZ Green Building Council Impact Manager Bobby Shen. “We recommend the lion’s share of projects to aim for 4 Star to get the mark of quality that Green Star provides, as well as unlock cheaper finance via sustainable finance opportunities.”
“We have heard time and time again that a more straightforward path to Green Star certification is needed to reach the mass market. Green Star Buildings, which is designed to be clearer about what is actually achieved, provided a great platform for this guidance, which has already been well received by clients, consultants, and developers,” he says.
“Green Star certification does not need to be complicated. With a clear pathway, the right team and early planning, a 4 Star Green Star rating is an achievable goal for many projects across Aotearoa New Zealand. Download the new guide and see how your project can get started.”