Green Star
Green Star assesses the sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings, fitouts and communities. There are four Green Star rating tools available for certification of design, construction and operation of buildings, fitouts and communities. The tools cover a broad range of sustainable topics including energy and emissions and provide an overall rating, with 4-stars meaning “best practice, 5-star meaning Australian excellence and 6-star meaning international excellence. The program is voluntary and covers the residential, office, retail, accommodation, education and public buildings
Get involved
Your hub for everything you need to work with and learn with the GBCA.
Showcase
Read about our Green Star-rated projects – insights into the innovative ways we're building for the future.
Advocacy
The GBCA is involved in a range of different initiatives to benefit industry.
Green Star
The what and why of certification
Green Star assesses the sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings, fitouts and communities. Choosing Green Star can help you save money, create a healthy place for people, minimise your environmental footprint and build a better future for us all.
Our built environment is currently the world's single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and also consumes around a third of our water, and generates 40 per cent of our waste. From individual buildings to entire communities, Green Star is transforming the way our built environment is designed, constructed and operated. Launched by the Green Building Council of Australia in 2003, Green Star is Australia's only national and voluntary rating system for buildings and communities. Green Star is helping to improve environmental efficiencies in our buildings, while boosting productivity, creating jobs and improving the health and well-being of our communities.
We currently have 1,715 Green Star-rated projects.
- 37% of office space is Green Star certified
- 5% of the workforce head to a green office each day
- 42,000 people live in Green Star-rated apartments
- 420,000 people are moving into Green Star communities. This is the equivalent of the population of Canberra.
- 1.3 million people visit a Green Star-rated shopping centre each day
Whether you're a building owner, operator or occupant, creating a green community or looking to live more sustainably, Green Star offers a framework of best practice benchmarks for sustainability that you and the marketplace can trust.
Need help understanding the terminology? Discover the meaning of Green Star terms.
Green Star has introduced a new competitive dynamic that, these days, is often the difference between winning and losing business.
Robert Coombs, President and Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Interface Inc.
Five simple steps to certification
Register
Log your project online.
Document
Get familiar with the documentation needed to demonstrate that your building, fitout or community meets Green Star's sustainability benchmarks with our submission guidelines.
Submit
Submit your documentation to the GBCA for Green Star assessment.
Assess
Green Star submissions are reviewed by an independent panel of sustainable development experts and an overall score is assigned.
Certify
A Green Star certified rating is awarded as a third-party verification of a project's sustainability.
Four rating tools available for certification
Rating systems no longer available
Green Star legacy rating tools
As Green Star evolves, legacy rating tools are no longer available for new projects.
Green Star is an internationally-recognised sustainability rating system.
If you'd like to get more involved with us, need some advice on Green Star or have an idea you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you.
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Green Star Governance
The Green Star Steering Committee and supporting advisory groups ensure the rating system continues to be Australia’s leading rating tool for the built environment. They also ensure continuous improvement of the certification process, and increase industry participation in Green Star.