Inside Green Star - 9th edition, June 2022

22 Jun 2022

Green Star Performance is almost here

The Green Star Performance version 2 Submission Guidelines will be released in August prior to the comprehensive release of the rating tool in 2023. This release is aimed at helping those looking to register for the new version of the rating tool get a head start. Want to be the first in the know? Make sure you're signed up to our newsletter. 

Green Star Buildings updates and improvements

There are three things for you to know about Green Star Buildings

New Sector Specific credits for tenanted buildings

New Leadership Challenges

More resources to help you achieve a rating

Green Star Buildings - guidance on credit substitution

  • Are you working on a Green Star Design & As Built project and want to try out Green Star Buildings credit/s? This document will show you which credits you can swap into a Green Star Design & As Built project, and how many points are available.

Climate Change Pre-screening Checklist

  • This checklist helps you target the Minimum Expectation of the Climate Change Resilience in Green Star Buildings
Atlassian Central, NSW. Atlassian. Targeting a 6 Star Green Star Buildings v1 rating.

Exposure to Toxins certification scheme index

  • This will help you understand the Exposure to Toxins credit in Green Star Buildings and the Indoor Pollutants credits in Green Star – Design & As Built, Green Star – Interiors and Green Star – Railway Stations.

In addition to all of the above, Green Star Buildings registered buildings have a streamlined pathway to the new Climate Active Carbon Neutral certification for new buildings. See here for more information. 

All of these resources are available at the Green Star Resource page.

Important deadlines

Looking to submit for assessment in 2022? Check out these important deadlines to make sure you get your results in time.

Take a look at key deadlines

New Climate Active certification for new buildings and more resources now available

Climate Active certification for new buildings

Thanks to an expansion to our agreement with Climate Active, we can now certify new buildings in addition to building operations. Buildings registered for Green Star Buildings that meet the requirements for the Climate Positive Pathway automatically comply with the Climate Active requirements for carbon neutrality. Legacy rating tools can make use of the same credits to also achieve a rating. If you are interested in certification, please contact us for more information and to get started. 

Climate Active certification for existing buildings

Interested in Climate Active's Carbon Neutral Building certification through Green Star - Performance v1.2?

Check these out:

For more information about achieve Climate Active's Carbon Neutral Building certification through GBCA please check out our website, or contact our Market Engagement team on MEteam@gbca.org.au or 02 8239 6200.

Improving your Green Star experience

New expanded services free of charge

Following your feedback, we are introducing additional services for all projects looking to achieve Green Star certification. All registered Green Star projects now have access to the following free services:

  • A 'on-boarding' workshop to introduce project teams to the process or help clarify issues; and
  • Five free technical questions (up from two queries)

Because of these changes, there are impacts to Innovation Queries that you need to be aware of. Check out the section below on "Changes to Innovation Queries for all legacy rating tools".

Speeding up the assessment process

For over 10 years we’ve been completing pre-assessment reviews on submissions prior to sending the submission to Assessors. This pre-assessment review helps ensure the submission is ready for assessment – for example, ensuring the scorecard is filled in; that documents have been attached; and ensuring files are openable. This was implemented to ensure that simple formatting issues were not preventing project teams from achieving points in their submission.

We’ve received feedback from industry that this service creates delays to assessment. With 10 years of industry experience, the pre-assessment reviews were not providing the same value as before. Feedback indicated that this service should instead be opt-in.

In response, we will phase out mandatory pre-assessment reviews and move to an optional ‘for fee’ model beginning January 2023. Between now and January 2023, project teams will be given the option to skip pre-assessment reviews but will otherwise continue to occur.

To help ensure your submission has been completed appropriately, we have developed the following guides to help project teams complete this quality assurance on their submissions themselves:

More information on the changes to the pre-assessment review process will be provided in future updates.

More guides and resources

We continuously strive to improve your Green Star experience. Here are just some of our most recent improvements to make your Green Star journey easier:

Green Star – Performance: guide on how to structure your portfolio submission

Follow this structure, which makes it simple and easy to prepare your Portfolio submission.

Green Star – Communities recertification guidance

Get some helpful strategies to prepare for Green Star - Communities recertification.

Clarification of Assessment Comments template

Have questions about your assessment results? Download the Clarification of Assessment Comments templates spreadsheet and contact your project’s Technical Coordinator. We can work with you and our Assessors to ensure your results are clear, and you understand what to do for Round 2.

Want free on-demand courses?

Want to learn in your own time? There are many free on-demand courses, and also on-demand courses available for a small fee, available on our website. 

Want more information on Green Star? Check out the Resources page and the Rating system page to find the latest information available on all Green Star rating tools.

Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building, VIC, Monash University. 5 star Green Star - Design & As Built v1.1

Changes to Innovation Queries for all legacy rating tools

Beginning September 2022, we will be introducing the changes to all queries for the Innovation Category. These changes apply to all registered projects regardless of the date of registration. The changes are a response to the maturity of the sector in understanding the affected rating tools. 

These changes apply to the following rating tools:

  • Green Star - Design & As Built (all versions)
  • Green Star - Interiors (all versions)
  • Green Star - Legacy rating tools (all versions)
  • Green Star Performance (all versions)

The following changes will apply from September 2022,

  • Queries for the Innovation Category are no longer required to be submitted prior to submissions, despite guidance included in the submission guidelines. An FAQ will be published on this shortly.
  • Because of this change, Innovation queries will now be considered a 'Technical question'. They will count against a projects newly expanded five free questions and will be charged once the free threshold is exceeded.
  • Unless indicated by GBCA staff, each query can only cover one Innovation claim. Queries that bundle multiple Innovation claims into one will be cancelled and must be resubmitted.

Leadership Challenge queries for Green Star Buildings and all Future Focus rating tools can still be submitted free of charge. 

Update to certification fees

Fee increases in line with CPI and other changes apply to all rating tools beginning September 2022. In addition to the fee increases, additional services will now be included for all project teams as part of registration.

The fee increases are described here. 

Please contact the Market Engagement team if you have any questions relating to Green Star registration and certification fees on MEteam@gbca.org.au

Interested in becoming a Green Star Certified Assessor? 

Do you have experience with Green Star - Communities or Green Star - Performance? Are you interested in becoming a Green Star Certified Assessor?

Apply now