Homes

Positive, Healthy and Resilient homes for all Australians

Green Star Homes has three categories focusing on core outcomes that define what a healthy, resilient and positive home is. Each category contains a number of credits with requirements that must be met to meet the Green Star Homes Standard. 

There are two important steps in certifying a home:

1. Green Star Designed Assessment

The first step on your path to certification is the Green Star Designed assessment. This stage involves submitting the designs of your product range for assessment with GBCA. If it meets the Green Star Homes requirements it will be awarded as ‘Green Star Designed’. 

Once awarded by GBCA, this entitles you (the builder) to use the Green Star ‘Designed’ logo for marketing purposes on that product prior to construction. This will indicate to consumers that the home design complies with the Green Star Homes standard.

This assessment is not a formal certification. A standard design or product line is a pre-set design that a customer can purchase. They may be allowed set variations on this base design. These homes are not bespoke, thereby creating economies of scale through replication, streamlining, and enhancing efficiencies. This ‘Designed’ home could feasibly be built many times and across multiple locations, as it will form part of a builder’s product range that they offer their customers. 

2. Green Star certification

The second stage is certification. Once a home has been built, the builder will submit ‘as constructed’ evidence for assessment and certification. This is a formal process by which the individual home is awarded a rating following an independent, third-party assessment of the project's submission against the requirements of the rating tool. This is what allows you to prove to your client that their house has been independently certified to meet Green Star Homes’ requirements.

A certified home can be marketed as being built to the Green Star Homes Standard.  

Both stages are a document-based assessment process like that available under other Green Star rating tools. The documentation requirements work in a similar manner to other Green Star rating tools. Green Star Homes takes a ‘volume’ approach to certification. For example, evidence for many credits will be submitted and assessed once, rather than for each individual house seeking certification. Through this approach efficiencies in documentation can be made, thus allowing certification at scale.  

Why certify?

Green Star Homes is the only independent sustainable homes certification available in Australia. 

By certifying your homes, you will receive the following benefits: 

• A trusted mark of quality and assurance that only the Green Star trademark can provide 
• A point of differentiation in the market, allowing you to stand out 
• A clear set of standards you can apply, knowing that you are in line with contemporary and leading practice when it comes to sustainability across carbon, etc 
• Ability to showcase your products and organisation as a one committed to doing the right thing
• Opportunity to have your organisation and products showcased.

Be part of the change! 

GBCA is working closely with its stakeholders and partners to further raise awareness of Green Star Homes in industry, government and with consumers. By certifying your homes with Green Star Homes, you can contribute this exciting movement, and respond to the growing consumer demand. 

For more information on the GBCA’s future homes strategy, click here.