Green Star

Developed by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), the 'Green Star' assessment tool rates a building in relation to its management, the health and wellbeing of its occupants, accessability to public transport, water use, energy consumption, the embodied energy of its materials, land use, and pollution.

Green Star aims to assist the building industry in its transition to sustainable development.

There is a suite of Green Star rating tools for commercial offices at all stages of development - design, construction and operations, as well as rating tools for retail and education facilities. Tools are in the pilot stage for industrial, multi unit residential, mixed use and healthcare.

Projects are evaluated against eight environmental impact catagories, plus innovation. Within each catagory points are awarded for initiatives that demonstrate that a project has met the overall objectives of Green Star, and the specific criteria of the relevant rating tool credits. Points are then weighted and an overall score is calculated, determining the projects Green Star rating.

Green Star rating tools use stars to rate performance;

4 Star certified rating signifies 'Best Paractice'

5 Star certified rating signifies 'Australian Excellence'

6 Star certified rating signifies 'World Leadership'

The Green Star rating system considers energy, transport, water, materials, land use, ecology, emissions and inovation.

NABERS

NABERS (formally the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating) is a performance based rating system for existing buildings. The aim of NABERS is to measure a buildings environmental performance during operation.

The NABERS scheme can benchmark commercial office spaces, hotels and homes. Also under development is a rating tool for retail spaces. It can be used for the base building (central services), whole building or individual tenancies.

The scheme benchmarks a buildings greenhouse performance on a scale of one to five (5 being best performance). The scheme assists building owners and tenants to promote their greenhouse performance.

NABERS rates buildings using stars;

3 Stars indicates 'Current Best Practice'

4 Stars indicates 'Strong Performance'

5 Stars indicates 'Best Building Performance'

The star rating is derived from the actual amount of energy a building/tenancy consumes in a year. This means that the rating reflects the way energy is managed, as well as how efficiently the building is designed. This benchmarking process allows comparison between different buildings.

In addition to the actual performance rating applicable to a building, a "Commitment Agreement" applies in the design of new office buildings. Through the commitment agreement the NABERS scheme allows developers and building owners to promote and market excellent greenhouse performance of new and refurbished offices from the outset.

Both Green Star and NABERS require rating by an accredited assessor.

Energy Efficiency Assessments can assist you with the process of obtaining Green Star or NABERS accreditation for you development.