Transforming the housing sector through Green Star

28 Jul 2020

We spoke to Elham Monavari, Senior Manager – Strategic Projects, about how the Green Star Homes Standard will lift the bar on current regulatory settings by proposing an ambitious suite of minimum criteria for sustainable homes of the future.

In 2016 Australia joined over 170 other countries to sign up to the Paris Agreement, a global commitment aiming to 'strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change'. A key feature of the agreement was for participating nations to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Data shows that on average, Australian families spend 90% of their time indoors, with two-thirds of this time is at home. We use our homes more than ever before, they have become an office, place to learn, rest and meet. 
It’s no surprise that we pay some of the highest energy bills in the world and that 53% of Australia’s total built environment emissions come from where we live, this is why our homes can’t be forgotten in action against climate change.

Three pillars form the foundation of our draft Green Star Homes Standard: health, resilience and net zero energy. We believe these three categories will drive the transformation of the housing market to ensure new homes are built to a higher standard that reflects our changing needs.

"As we’ve seen more recently with the current health situation, our homes and where we live can play a really important part in our health and how we feel. The healthy category includes a number of different requirements that set out how we seek to improve the health of the occupants living in homes,” explained Elham.

The draft Standard also requires homes of the future to be resilient. We know that climate change is affecting all facets of life and it is essential that the places where we live can respond to the challenges ahead including natural disasters, bushfires, flooding and heat stress.  A Green Star certified home will also consider its effect on the broader climate by reducing water use. 

“We want homes to have a positive impact. Energy and water use are considered along with the positive impact that homes have on the community . The energy emitted from our homes make up over half of the built environment’s total emissions, this is a significant figure that has to be addressed,” said Elham.

The Green Homes Standard is an opportunity to ensure Australian homes are built for the future, ready to adapt to challenges while being part of the global response to the threat of climate change. We are confident we can support the housing sector through the transformation that has already begun.


Consultation on the draft standard is now open and will run until Friday 30 October 2020. To learn more ahead of giving your feedback, join Elham to unpack the Standard and each individual credit in a live webinar on 24 August. Let us know you're coming by registering here.

Register here

GBCA thanks our Gold Future Homes Partner Stockland and Supporting Partners Bank Australia, BlueScope, Cbus Property, the Insurance Council of Australia, Landcom, Geberit and SGCH.