31 Jul 2024
Today we launch the much-awaited Green Star Performance v2 to meet changing expectations in a changing world.
When Green Star Performance shot onto the market in 2013 most of the finance frameworks that investors use today to assess the value of their built assets either didn’t exist or were in their infancy.
The Paris Agreement, the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were two years away. ISSB was nothing but a collection of letters.
GRESB had 42 participants in Australia and New Zealand – an impressive achievement, to be sure, but far below the 143 ANZ entities with $635 billion in assets under management in 2023.
Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) thought 2013 could be the “dawn of a new age of green bonds” after deals worth $11 billion made “heads turn”. Banks and investors were showing interest, but it was then inconceivable that we’d accumulate US$4.2 trillion in climate bonds within a decade.
These are just a handful of examples of how the world and investor expectations have changed since we launched Green Star Performance v1 in 2013.
That’s why we embraced the enormous task of rebuilding the rating tool from the ground up. Our goal was always to do the hard work of interpreting the megatrends and integrating them into one framework so Green Star users could get on with the task of doing what they do best – delivering sustainable buildings.
We engaged with more than 200 experts to ensure revised benchmarks are aligned with the world’s leading investor and sustainable finance frameworks and with the net zero expectations in the Climate Positive Pathway for Existing Buildings.
Green Star Performance v2 draws down the latest megatrends and investor demands into a single, user-friendly digital tool. It is aligned with CBI, GRESB, TCFD, as well as 14 of the 17 UN SDGs. Buildings with NABERS ratings can earn up to 27 points towards a Performance rating.
The tool takes a holistic view of sustainability, embedding circular economy principles into operations, addressing fitout waste, embodied carbon, health and wellbeing, social impact, nature and climate resilience.
We have set up Green Star Performance v2 to support better corporate reporting and disclosure, to help investors and banks make better decisions, and to give facilities managers a “ladder to better”.
We have refined our definitions for each of the six stars, with rating expectations and mandatory credits that guarantee outcomes to give investors and lenders confidence. The benchmarks for world leadership have been strengthened, and the rating tool is more easily applied to every asset type, including social infrastructure.
We’ve focused on ‘sustainability at scale’. Where Version 1 was designed for single buildings and adapted for portfolios, Version 2 makes portfolios the default.
We have developed a digital platform that harmonises with NABERS and helps sustainability teams deal with the deluge of ESG reporting requirements. Green Star Performance, powered by a digital platform, will ease the ESG reporting burden. Users can ditch the spreadsheets and work smarter.
It’s been a mammoth effort over many moons, but we are proud to launch Green Star Performance v2 to the market in this critical decade for decarbonisation. In this month’s Green Building Voice, we’ve reflected Green Star Performance v1’s impact. It’s a good read for those wanting to look back on what a difference a decade makes.
But the biggest message we share with the market today is one focused on the future. From today, every building can meet best practice and every building owner can set their assets on a pathway to net zero by 2040. So, join us. Start the journey towards better.
Green Star Performance v2 registrations are now open. All new projects must use v2 from 1 January 2025. Find out more here.