The Site-wide Credits Approach is a Green Star certification pathway that allows Green Star applicants to streamline some documentation requirements when there are multiple buildings in the same site boundary seeking Green Star certifications.
Where projects located on the same site share common elements, such as a common project team, shared infrastructure or common policies, a Site-wide Credits Approach may be established to assess the relevant elements that may be assessed once for the entire site. Each project still achieves it’s own Green Star rating.
In order for projects to be deemed appropriate to use the Site-wide Credits Approach, they must demonstrate:
1. Boundary
All buildings intended for the approach are being constructed within a single, distinct site boundary.
2. Applicant
All buildings intended for the approach are to be registered and coordinated by the same applicant.
3. Timing
All buildings intended to be covered by the approach are being constructed within the same timeframe and the construction is not staged.
Please see the Site-wide Credits Approach Support Document for Green Star Buildings (available in the Green Star Resources Portal) for a fuller description of these criteria and the process, and to download the Site-wide Credits Approach proposal template to use in your eligibility criteria.
To apply for a Site-wide Credits Approach, an Eligibility Query must be submitted to the GBCA before the buildings are registered.
This approach is applicable for projects registering under the below rating tools:
Please note that the Sitewide approach is different from Portfolio Certification, Volume Certification, and MBSR.
A Site-wide Credits Approach is beneficial for applicants that have a number of Green Star registered projects being developed on the same site, and where documentation to evidence Green Star compliance may be the same for all registrations at the site.
When an approved credit has been assessed and awarded in a Site-wide Credits Approach, it can typically be applied to all registrations at the site. As such, applying a Site-wide Credits Approach will help project teams to streamline evidence for approved Site-wide Credits, resulting in less documentation handling overall, and an optimised assessment process for the certification of each building.
Individual buildings applying the Site-wide Credits Approach do not need to have the same design, end use or building typology to be eligible to apply for site-wide credits.
However, the overall quantity of site-wide credits available to a project will be greater where buildings share common features or are being delivered by common personnel.
It should also be noted that the site itself will not receive a Green Star rating under this approach. Each building must have an individual registration and will receive its own rating once they have each gone through the certification process.
Buildings intending to use a Site-wide Credits Approach must be registered under the same rating tool and tool version.
Project teams considering a Site-wide Credits Approach should first review the Site-wide Credits Approach Support Document, which can be downloaded from the Resources Portal .
Then, submit an Eligibility query approval to use the Site-wide Credits Approach. The support document outlines what information should be submitted in the Eligibility Query including details of the boundary, individual buildings, common applicant and timing, as well as the required supporting documentation to be attached to the request. It outlines which credits can potentially target a site-wide approach, and which cannot.
Once a project is approved as eligible for the Site-wide Credits Approach, the project will then be required to submit a Technical Question to provide details of the sitewide credits being targeted, justification for your approach and if possible, examples of documentation that can be submitted to demonstrate compliance.
If you would like to discuss the suitability of the Site-wide Credits Approach for your project, please contact the GBCA’s Market Engagement team