Firstly, Green Star!
To clarify who are "Green Star Accredited Professionals" or "GBCA Accredited Professionals", here is the relevant description from the Green Star - Office Design Manual:
Green Star Accredited Professionals are experienced building industry practitioners who have demonstrated their understanding of the Green Star rating system and the benefits of integrated design.
To become a Green Star Accredited Professional, candidates must attend a GBCA Green Star Accredited Professional course and pass the associated exam.
Green Star is a voluntary scheme for developers to "market" their buildings.
So far, there are only 29 buildings have a formal Green Star certification. (As from GBCA;s website)
The Green Star scale is from one to six.
What is a one star building? And what is a six star building?
Here is a table for the meaning of the “Stars”:
| Stars | Score (from eight categories after application of weighting factors) | Outcome / Represents |
| One star | 10-19 | Minimum practice |
| Two stars | 20-29 | Average practice |
| Three stars | 30-44 | Good practice |
| Four stars | 45-59 | Best practice; eligible for application of Four Star Green Star Rating certificate |
| Five stars | 60-74 | Australian excellence; eligible for application of Five Star Green Star Rating certificate |
| Six stars | 75-100 | World Leader; eligible for application of Six Star Green Star Rating certificate |
The Green Star assesses eight aspects (categories) of a building. They are:
1. Management
2. IEQ (Indoor Environment Quality)
3. Energy
4. Transport
5. Water
6. Materials
7. Land Use & Ecology
8. Emissions
Plus a special 5 credits points of innovation that cannot be assessed under the 8 categories.
The first category in the rating tool is "Management":
There are 7 items under "Management":
Man-1
Green Star Accredited Professional
To encourage and recognise the adoption of environmentally sustainable principles from the earliest project stages throughout design and construction.
Man-2
Commissioning - Clauses
To encourage and recognise improved building services performance and energy efficiency due to adequate commissioning and hand-over to the building owner.
Man-3
Commissioning - Building Tuning
To encourage and recognise improved energy efficiency and comfort within the building in all seasons due to adequate commissioning.
Man-4
Commissioning - Commissioning Agent
To encourage and recognise the appointment of an independent commissioning agent from design through to handover.
Man-5
Building Users' Guide
To encourage and recognise the provision of guidance material to enable building users to achieve the environmental performance envisaged by the design team, and to manage future changes that promote efficiency and environmental quality.
Man-6
Environmental Management
To encourage and recognise the adoption of a formal environmental management system in line with established guidelines during construction.
Man-7
Waste Management
To encourage and recognise management systems that facilitate the reduction of construction waste going to landfill.
The second, arguably the most important category is the "Indoor Environmental Quality / IEQ":
This category has the most number of items. It is very important to achieve energy efficiency, material safety, etc. but at the same time not sacrificing the indoor environmental quality:
IEQ-1
Ventilation Rates
To encourage and recognise the provision of increased outside air rates, in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.
IEQ-2
Air Change Effectiveness
To encourage and recognise systems that provide for the effective delivery of clean air through reduced mixing with indoor pollutants in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.
IEQ-3
Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Control
To encourage and recognise the provision of response monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to ensure delivery of minimum outside air requirements.
IEQ-4
Daylight
To encourage and recognise designs that provide good levels of daylight for building users.
IEQ-5
Daylight Glare Control
To encourage and recognise buildings that are designed to reduce the discomfort of glare from natural light.
IEQ-6
High Frequency Ballasts
To encourage and recognise the increase in workplace amenity by avoiding low frequency flicker that may be associated with fluorescent lighting.
IEQ-7
Electric Lighting Levels
To encourage and recognise base building provided office lighting that is not over-designed.
IEQ-8
External Views
To encourage and recognise reduced eyestrain for building occupants by allowing long distance views and the provision of visual connection to the outdoors.
IEQ-9
Thermal Comfort
To encourage and recognise the use of thermal comfort assessments to guide design options.
IEQ-10
Individual Comfort Control
To recognise the benefits of individual control to provide good thermal comfort.
IEQ -11
Asbestos
To encourage and recognise actions taken to reduce health risks to occupants from the presence of hazardous materials.
IEQ-12
Internal Noise Levels
To encourage and recognise buildings that are designed to maintain internal noise levels at an appropriate level.
IEQ-13
Volatile Organic Compounds
To encourage and recognise projects that reduce the detrimental impact on occupant health from finishes emitting internal air pollutants.
IEQ-14
Formaldehyde Minimisation
To encourage and recognise projects that reduce the use of formaldehyde composite wood products in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.
IEQ-15
Mould Prevention
To encourage and recognise the design of systems which reduce the risk of mould growth and its associated detrimental impact on occupant health.
IEQ-16
Tenant Exhaust Riser
To encourage and recognise the provision of buildings designed with a general exhaust riser that can be used by tenants to remove indoor pollutants from printing and photocopy areas.
So the third category (IMO, second most important category) is Energy:
Ene-1
Energy
To reduce base building operational energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Ene-2
Energy Improvement
To encourage and recognise projects that contain design features that help to minimise operational energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the base building over and above the Conditional Requirement in Ene-1.
Ene-3
Electrical Sub-metering
To encourage and recognise the provision of energy sub-metering to facilitate energy monitoring of base building services.
Ene-4
Tenancy Sub-metering
To encourage and recognise the provision of energy sub-metering to facilitate energy monitoring by tenants or end users.
Ene-5
Office Lighting Power Density
To encourage and recognise lighting design practices which lessen lighting energy consumption while maintaining appropriate lighting levels.
Ene-6
Office Lighting Zoning
To encourage and recognise lighting design practices that offer greater flexibility for light switching, making it easier to light only occupied areas.
Ene-7
Peak Energy Demand Reduction
To encourage and recognise projects that implement systems to reduce peak demand on energy supply infrastructure.
The fourth category is Transport:
Tra-1
Provision of Car Parking
To encourage and recognise building design that promotes the utilisation of alternative modes of transport by limiting available car park spaces.
Tra-2
Small Parking Spaces
To encourage and recognise building design that supports the use of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles for work commuting.
Tra-3
Cyclist Facilities
To encourage and recognise building design that promotes the use of bicycles by occupant and visitors by ensuring adequate cyclist facilities are provided.
Tra-4
Commuting Public Transport
To encourage and recognise developments with proximity and good access to public transport networks which have frequent services.
The fifth cateogry is Water:
Wat-1
Occupant Amenity Potable Water Efficiency
To encourage and recognise systems which have the potential to reduce the potable water consumption of building occupants.
Wat-2
Water Meters
To encourage and recognise the design of systems that monitor and manage water consumption.
Wat-3
Landscape Irrigation Water Efficiency
To encourage and recognise the design of systems that aim to reduce the consumption of potable water for landscape irrigation.
Wat-4
Cooling Tower Water Consumption
To encourage and recognise building design that reduces the potential demand on potable water supplies and infrastructure due to water-based building cooling systems.
Wat-5
Fire System Water Consumption
To encourage and recognise building design that reduces potable water consumption of the building's fire protection and essential water storage systems.
The sixth category is Materials:
Mat-1
Recycling Waste Storage
To encourage and recognise the inclusion of storage space that facilitates the recycling of resources used within offices to reduce waste going to landfill.
Mat-2
Re-use of Façade
To encourage and recognise the re-use of existing façades to reduce new material consumption.
Mat-3
Re-use of Structure
To encourage and recognise the re use of existing structures to reduce new material consumption.
Mat-4
Shell and Core or Integrated Fitout
To encourage and recognise the reduction of material wastage during tenancy fitouts.
Mat-5
Recycled Content of Concrete
To encourage and recognise the reduction of embodied energy and resource depletion due to the use of concrete.
Mat-6
Recycled Content of Steel
To encourage and recognise the reduction in embodied energy and resource depletion due to the use of recycled steel.
Mat-7
PVC Minimisation
To encourage and recognise the reduction of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) products in Australian buildings.
Mat-8
Sustainable Timber
To encourage and recognise the specification of re-used timber products or timber that has certified environmentally responsible forest management practices.
The seventh category is "Land Use & Ecology":
Eco-1
Ecological Value of Site
To encourage wherever possible development on land that already has a limited ecological value and discourage the development of ecologically valuable sites.
Eco-2
Re-use of Land
To encourage and recognise the re-use of land that has previously been developed.
Eco-3
Reclaimed Contaminated Land
To encourage and recognise positive actions to use contaminated land that otherwise would not have been developed.
Eco-4
Change of Ecological Value
To encourage and recognise the minimisation of ecological impact from a development and maximise the enhancement of a site for both new and existing buildings.
Eco-5
Topsoil and Fill Removal from Site
To encourage and recognise practices that reduce the amount of topsoil and fill removed from development sites.
The eight category is "Emissions":
Emi-1
Refrigerant ODP
To encourage and recognise the reduction of potential long-term damage to the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer through the accidental release of ozone depleting substances to the atmosphere.
Emi-2
Refrigerant GWP
To encourage and recognise the selection of refrigerants that reduce the potential for increased global warming arising from the emission of refrigerants to the Earth's atmosphere in the event of accidental release of intensive greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Emi-3
Refrigerant Leak Detection
To encourage and recognise systems which reduce the release of refrigerants to the atmosphere arising from leakages in a building's cooling plant.
Emi-4
Refrigerant Recovery
To encourage and recognise systems that reduce and prevent unnecessary loss of refrigerants in the event of a leak.
Emi-5
Watercourse Pollution
To encourage and recognise project design that reduces the potential of pollution in water running off from buildings and hard surfaces to natural watercourses.
Emi-6
Reduced Flow to Sewer
To encourage and recognise building design that reduces water flows to the municipal sewerage systems for treatment.
Emi-7
Light Pollution
To encourage and recognise lighting design that reduces pollution from the unnecessary dispersion of light into the night sky and onto neighbouring property.
Emi-8
Cooling Towers
To encourage and recognise building systems design which eliminates the risk of Legionnaire’s Disease from cooling towers.
Emi-9
Insulant ODP
To encourage and recognise designs which reduce the potential for long-term damage to the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer from ozone depleting substances used in the manufacture or composition of thermal insulation.
The last cateogory "Innovation" is not officially a category. But it give credits to innovative ideas that cannot be assessed under other categories or some ideas that exceed the stated requirements.
Inn-1
Innovative Strategies and Technologies
To encourage and recognise the spread of innovative initiatives for commercial building applications that improve a development's environmental impact.
Inn-2
Exceeding Green Star Benchmarks
To encourage and recognise design initiatives which demonstrate additional environmental benefit by exceeding the current benchmarks in Green Star - Office Design.
Inn-3
Environmental Design Initiatives
To encourage and recognise design initiatives which have a significant measurable environmental benefit and which are not awarded points by Green Star – Office Design.
Green Star is voluntary.
Some big developers, however, are using it as a marketing tool.
But if you spend that much to make a building "green", you are actually getting a very good building (supposedly).
Somehow, some councils adopt the Green Star approach to their "Development Control Plans". (DCP's)
DCP's are local requirements imposed by the specific councils (local government) in the area.
I have seen and used one DCP that uses "Score Cards" to make a building green. See the link:
http://202.148.138.211/downloaddocument.aspx?DocumentID=1157
The score cards are originated from the Green Star Rating Tool.
So, in some way, Green Star is becoming increasingly important. As What I said before for ABGR, Green Star is like a semi-regulation in some areas.
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