Green Star
Green Star assesses the sustainable design, construction and operation of buildings, fitouts and communities.
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.
Design & As Built
Design and construction
Green Star – Design & As Built assesses the sustainability outcomes from the design and construction of new buildings or major refurbishments, across nine holistic impact categories.
The current version of the rating tool is: Green Star – Design & As Built v1.2. This was released on 03/07/17.
The nine categories and credits
Management
Aims to encourage and reward the adoption of practices and processes that support best practice sustainability outcomes throughout the different phases of a project’s design, construction and ongoing operation.
Indoor environment quality (IEQ)
Aims to encourage and reward initiatives that enhance the comfort and well-being of occupants. The credits within this category address issues such as air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic comfort.
Energy
Aims to reward projects that are designed and constructed to reduce overall greenhouse emissions from operations by addressing energy demand reduction, use efficiency and generation from alternative sources.
Transport
Aims to reward projects that facilitate a reduction on the dependency of private car use as an important means of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to encourage the provision of alternative forms of transportation.
Water
Aims to encourage and reward initiatives that reduce the consumption of potable water through measures such as the incorporation of water efficient fixtures and building systems and water re-use.
Materials
Aims to address the consumption of resources for the project, by encouraging the selection of low-impact materials.
Land use and ecology
Aims to reduce the negative impacts on sites' ecological value as a result of urban development and reward projects that minimise harm and enhance the quality of local ecology.
Emissions
Aims to assess the environmental impacts of 'point source' pollution generated by projects and reduce their effects on the atmosphere, watercourse and native animals.
Innovation
Aims to recognise the implementation of innovative practices, processes and strategies that promote sustainability in the built environment.
Innovation Challenges, found within the Innovation category, are designed to encourage and direct investment in solutions that address a wide range of social, economic and environmental sustainability issues. Some Innovation Challenges will take the form of new credits, while others will simply identify sustainability issues that additional research and innovation will help to address.
Change log
We are constantly working to improve and refine Green Star – Design & As Built in response to industry feedback and project queries. The change log provides a record of the revisions made with each release of the rating tool.
Download a list of categories and credits
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank everyone who contributed to the development of the rating tool.
Download a list of acknowledgements
Submission Guidelines
The Submission Guidelines provide detailed information on credit aims, criteria and compliance requirements and additional guidance, background information and resources. It is the main source of information on the technical requirements for projects pursuing Green Star certification.
Access the Submission Guidelines
The Submission Guidelines are available at our online shop. The guidelines are free to download for all members and available for purchase to non-members.
Green Star – Design & As Built v1.2, uploaded 03/07/17.
Scorecard
The scorecard is an interactive Excel spreadsheet that must be used by projects seeking Green Star certification. The scorecard provides a scoring tool for projects to keep track of their Green Star points claims. The scorecard is also used by the GBCA to provide the results of assessment.
Green Star – Design & As Built v1.2, updated 10/07/17.
Submission Templates
For all credits targeted, the project team must complete the credit's Submission Template. It specifies the information and narrative required to confirm that the project complies with the Compliance Requirements of the Credit Criteria. In the Submission Template projects are also required to provide details of the evidence included in the project's submission to justify the claims made in the Submission Template. Projects must submit these Submission Templates provided and are not permitted to use an alternative document.
Submission Templates are provided in MS Word format. Please note there are no automated or 'smart' features embedded within the Submission Templates. Project teams are to fill in and edit the Submission Templates to suit their responses within the shaded areas indicated within each Submission Template. Feedback on these templates are welcome.
A zip file containing all Submission Templates for Green Star – Design & As Built v1.2 is available for download. This was uploaded on 14/07/2017.
Calculators and guides
Calculators
A number of credits require additional calculations to determine the number of points awarded. For these credits a Green Star – Design & As Built Calculator has been developed. Select a calculator below to download:
| Calculator | Latest update | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Greenhouse Gas Emissions | 20/07/17 |
| 17 | Sustainable Transport - Please submit a request via Green Star Manager for calculator access for registered Green Star projects | 22/01/19 |
| 18 | Potable Water | 06/12/18 |
| 19 | Life Cycle Assessment | 29/06/18 |
| 21 | Sustainable Products | 14/07/17 |
| 23 | Ecological Value | 14/07/17 |
| 29 | Refrigerant Impacts | 14/07/17 |
Calculator guides and additional information
To assist project teams to use the calculators, supplementary guides are provided.
| Calculator Guide | Latest update | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions | 12/05/2016 |
| 15 | Shared Services and Low-Carbon Energy Supply Assessment Guide | 22/07/2015 |
| 15 | Renewables and Offsets in Green Star | 14/08/2018 |
| 17 | Access by Public Transport | 03/12/2015 |
| 17 | Sustainable Transport | 03/12/2015 |
| 18 | Potable Water | 03/12/2015 |
| 19 | Daylight and Views Hand Calculation Guide | 03/12/2015 |
Submission checklist
A completed submission requirements checklist must be submitted by all projects teams for Round 1 and Round 2 Green Star submissions.
Download the submission requirements checklist
Additional resources
Green Star - Railway Stations
Green Star - Railway Stations is a customisation of Green Star - Design & As Built v1.2. The customised rating tool has been prepared for use on above ground and underground railway stations across Australia. A consultation process involving policy makers and sustainability professionals delivering rail projects in other states was conducted in 2018 to ensure the tool is relevant and usable within their jurisdictions. The development of this tool removes the requirement for the development of custom Green Star rating tools for individual rail infrastructure projects, allowing projects to be rated against a common benchmark, that follows the same governance structure as other publically available Green Star rating tools.
Additional resources that have been created to assist project teams seeking a Green Star rating. These are listed below:
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs): Products and materials in Green Star rating tools are addressed through credits which target the consumption of resources through selection, use, reuse and efficient management practices of building and fitout materials. The GBCA has developed some background and guidance relating to LCA and EPDs, when submitting documentation within Green Star credits.
PVC: The Best Practice Guidelines for PVC, developed after extensive stakeholder feedback, provides guidance for project teams wishing to demonstrate compliance with the Green Star credit.
Construction and demolition waste: All Green Star rating tools include a Construction and Demolition Waste credit which aims to encourage and reward management practices that minimise the amount of construction and demolition waste from base building and/or interior fitout works that is disposed to landfill. The credit requires the use of waste contractors and waste processing facilities that have been independently verified for compliance with minimum standards of reporting. As a result of this consultation process, in 2013 the GBCA introduced the Construction and Demolition Waste Reporting Criteria for projects seeking Green Star certification.
Product Certification Schemes: The GBCA has developed a framework to acknowledge products certified by product certification schemes within the Materials category (Material Calculators, Fitout Calculators and the VOC credit) in Green Star rating tools for design and construction, and the Green Cleaning credit in Green Star – Performance.
Green Star and WELL Building Standard: Approaches to buildings or fitouts seeking a dual rating: We have worked collaboratively on a guidance document that compares and aligns the Green Star and WELL Building Standard™ (WELL) rating systems. This will support building owners looking to boost the sustainability of their assets and support the health and wellbeing of people inside the buildings.
Green Star and Living Building Challenge: Approaches to buildings seeking a dual rating: We have worked collaboratively on a guidance document that compares and aligns the Green Star and Living Building Challenge rating systems. This will support building owners looking to boost the sustainability of their assets and support positive, regenerative approaches to buildings.
Passive House Standard & Green Star – Design & As Built: We have worked collaboratively on a guidance document for those building owners looking use Passive house certification to achieve a Green Star rating.
Previous versions
For all projects registered under a previous version of Green Star – Design & As Built, log in to your Green Star Project Manager to download all supporting resources required to complete your submission. The table below lists all previous versions of the rating tool and their release date.
| Green Star – Design & As Built | Release date |
|---|---|
| Version 1.1 | 01/07/2015 |
| Version 1.0 | 22/10/2014 |
| Version Draft | April 2014 |
While the rating tool will be updated from time to time, project teams are only required to adhere to the Submission Guidelines for the rating tool that their project is registered under. If the project team chooses, a later version can be used. Project teams are not subject to clarifications or amendments made as part of a revision unless registered for that rating tool version.
Upgrading to the current version of the Green Star rating tool
If a project is registered under a previous version of the Green Star – Design & As Built rating tool, the applicant may choose to formally update the version of the rating tool (for example, move from version 1.0 to 1.2), to achieve the project's certification. For additional details on this process, contact the Market Engagement team.
The certification process
There are five simple steps to achieve certification:
- Register your project online.
- Get technical support.
- Compile your submission documentation.
- Submit documentation for assessment.
- Green Star certified rating achieved.
