23 Sep 2026
A word from Elham Monavari, Head of Green Star Strategic Delivery
With Green Building Forum around the corner, I’m looking forward to touching base with you all, and learning about the exciting ways projects are applying Green Star.
Of course, this isn’t the only time that the GBCA hears from industry. Every year, we undertake the Green Star Satisfaction Survey, where Green Star Accredited Professionals on active projects tell us about their experience with different aspects of Green Star, ranging from the rating tools and resources to the assessment and certification process, the digital experience and course and the professional development program.
This year, a record 150 people completed the survey. This year’s survey showed a shift in active rating tools with Green Star Buildings being the most widely used rating tool (86% - the same as last year), followed by Design and As-Built (68% down from 79% last year), then Performance (31%).
Overall satisfaction with Green Star measured at 72%. While the level of dissatisfaction declined, the proportion of ‘neutral’ respondents increased. Despite this, the GBCA will focus efforts to reversing this and improving overall satisfaction.
According to the survey, you value:
But you wanted us to improve your experience related to the online submission portal (30% satisfaction), fairness of (56%) and timeliness (63%) of assessment results.
During the last financial year, we worked hard to deliver improvements to assessment turnaround times (over 75% of assessment results are on time), and Technical Questions response times (over 80% are answered on time).
This year, in response to the survey and comments we’ve received, we have more in store, to make your Green Star experience even better. We will:
As we’ve seen Green Star grow across different sectors, and its take up broaden, we understand that these atypical sectors may need extra assistance in understanding and applying Green Star. This is why I’m excited to be at all Green Building Forums with members of the Green Star Operations Transformation team, including Emma Bezzina, Arielle Laxamana, Sebastian Hacker, Debbie Roussakis, Elly Williams and Jim Ng to help you have the tools you need to help your tricky project succeed. We’ll be joined by our fabulous assessors, and experienced GSAPs to break down key requirements, and answer your questions.
To register for Green Building Forum, and our first Sustainabale Data Centres Forum, please head to our website.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Green Star Communities v2, released in 2025, includes two pathways that drive improved performance over time based on a project's registration date – the Climate Positive Pathway and the Nature Positive Pathway.
The first increase in stringency of the Climate and Nature Positive Pathways was scheduled to apply for projects registering from 1 January 2027, but will now be deferred until 1 January 2028.
GBCA continues work on Biodiversity Net Gain and Upfront Carbon Reduction calculation methodologies, due to be release by early 2027.
A second step change remains for projects registering in 2030 onwards.
Updates:
Pathway: Climate Positive Pathway
Current requirements (retained for projects registering today to 2027):
Fossil Fuel Free Buildings and Infrastructure
Zero Carbon Action Plan for existing buildings and infrastructure
100% renewable energy for precinct operated buildings and infrastructure
New infrastructure is energy efficient
Existing Infrastructure improves energy efficiency over time
The precinct’s upfront carbon emissions are reduced by 10%
Uplift deferred for projects registering from 2027 moved to 2028:
Pathway: Nature Positive Pathway
Current requirements (retained for projects registering today to 2027):
Currently no mandatory requirements related to Biodiversity Net Gain.
Uplift deferred for projects registering from 2027 moved to 2028:
5 Star Green Star
6 Star Green Star
In July the Government announced plans to close down the Climate Active Carbon Neutral program by June 2027, and sought feedback to its consultation paper up until 18 September. The GBCA has been closely following developments in this space. We held a webinar seeking feedback from impacted stakeholders, to better understand how projects will be affected by the closure and to understand what could come next.
GBCA is yet to develop a full picture of what is to occur after Climate Active closes. We will keep you updated on any developments in this space over the coming months.
If you have an existing registered project impacted by the closure of Climate Active and are seeking alternative solutions within Green Star, please submit a Technical Question and a response will be issued specifically for that project. We hope to establish industry wide guidance early in 2027, once the Federal Government has announced the outcome of their consultation.
If you would like to provide further feedback or have questions, please contact the Market Engagement team at MEteam@gbca.org.au
GBCA's Responsible Products Framework was released as part of our Green Star Future Focus program in 2020. Since then, it has evolved into the Responsible Products Program and includes the Responsible Products Score Checker. As our responsible products team comes closer to sharing the next iteration of the framework, we spoke to Katherine Featherstone, Senior Manager, Products and Materials, about what the refresh means for the score checker.
Read it here
Following feedback from project teams and early access program participants since it launched in February this year, the Fitouts rating tool has now been updated with some minor clarifications and edits for clarity. This version applies to all Green Star Fitouts registered projects that are yet to submit for assessment, but the changes are not intended to increase stringency on any of the existing requirements and instead should make targeting a rating that little bit easier. If you feel your project has been negatively impacted by the changes, please reach out to your Technical Coordinator.
Revision A of the submission guidelines can now be downloaded from the Resources Portal alongside a change log document.
For any queries, or in house training, contact education@gbca.org.au