What is Volume Certification?
A streamlined certification process for buildings, communities and fitouts that share a standard design, common construction processes, and/or policies. It allows for common elements of a standard design or approach to be assessed before being included in individual submissions. This can significantly reduce the amount of documentation required and can create a more streamlined approach to Green Star certification.
Using the Volume Approach
Multiple Projects with Common Elements
A Volume approach is suitable when a standard design, common construction processes and/or policies are applied across multiple projects seeking Green Star certification, or you are seeking to establish a standard approach across multiple future projects.
Common Applicant
A Volume approach can only be registered by an organisation that has ownership of a pipeline of fitouts, buildings or precincts, and will therefore be the project Applicant on all projects.
GBCA Membership
The Volume certification program is available to project applicants that are GBCA members at time of use. The project applicant must maintain GBCA membership to be eligible for Assessment under the Volume certification program.
Rating Tools
The approach is suitable for use with the below Rating Tools:
Period of Validity
Once the Common Credits assessment has been completed, and the Volume Support Document has been approved and issued for use, you will have 3 years to register projects under that Volume approach .
Benefits of Volume Certification
- Confidence that your standard design, materials, processes and policies comply with best practice sustainability benchmarks
- Reduced documentation requirements and a more streamlined certification process should mean decreased costs when certifying your Green Star projects
- Lower Certification fees
- Increased technical support from the GBCA including:
- A Technical Workshop with the GBCA to work through the technical aspects of the project.
- Free Technical Questions to support the Volume assessment.
- Increased marketing opportunities and ability to demonstrate corporate leadership in sustainability
- Ability to manage risks associated with achieving your desired Green Star rating
What do you get as part of the Volume Program?
- An initial workshop to discuss the types of projects being delivered and the scope of delivery. This is a good opportunity to verify how suitable your projects are for the Volume program.
- A Technical Workshop to analyse benchmarks and credits, and to understand which are relevant to the Standard Design. This will help to determine which credits can be classified as ‘Common Credits’.
- Assistance in creating a Volume Support Document detailing the Volume Certification process, your standardised approach to complying with each common credit, and the documentation requirements for each Common Credit.
- Additional meetings to finalise the process if needed.
- Access to our Marketing team to help you market your certified ratings once individual projects have been assessed.
Stages of Volume Certification
Stage One: Project Registration and Inception
- Initial Meeting: An initial meeting or workshop will be held with the GBCA and members of the project team to determine whether the Volume approach is the best option for your projects.
- Project Registration: Registration for Volume certification is complete upon execution of the Common Credits Agreement and payment of the Volume Certification fee.
- Once the project is registered, the GBCA and the project team will work together in a Technical Workshop to determine the best approach towards the Volume Certification. By aligning the common elements across your project pipeline with Green Star credits, a list of ‘Common Credits’ will begin to take shape, and a streamlined documentation pathway will be developed for each of these. This is also the time to discuss the Quality Assurance process – the steps for ensuring the standardised approach is implemented on each project.
Stage Two: Common Credits Assessment
At this stage, the standard documentation will be submitted for assessment by one of our third-party Certified Assessors. Once the points awarded for the Common Credits have been finalised, the project team will be issued with a finalised Volume Support Document, which specifies the documentation requirements for approved Common Credits in the individual project submissions. The date on this document marks the start of the period under which individual projects can register (typically three years)
Stage Three: Individual Project Assessment
All projects seeking certification under the Volume approach will need to be registered separately. The project team will then collate the relevant documentation for each project, including:
- The Volume Support Document
- Individual project documentation requirements for ‘Common Credits’
- Documentation as per the Submission Guidelines for ‘Project Specific’ credits.
Audit Process
1 in 5 projects will be audited. This will involve the project team submitting extra documentation for the Common Credits to ensure that the standardised approach is being delivered at the project level.
Things to note
- When registering for Volume certification, separate registrations are required for the overall Common Credits Assessment and for the individual projects that will be assessed against the approach.
- Volume certification is best implemented when at least 30% of the applicable credits are Common Credits
- If there is currently not a standard design or approach in place, the program can take longer to set up initially.
If you would like to explore Volume certification for your project please contact the Market Engagement Team.