What are the criteria for Green Buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand?

The criteria for Green Buildings in Aotearoa are ranked against several categories, water, transport, indoor environment, energy, ecology, land-use, emission management, management of building and innovation of design and operation. Green Star is the internationally recognised sustainability rating in Aotearoa for Green Buildings.

The New Zealand Government is leading the charge on setting standards for low carbon and green building design. The ‘Zero Carbon’ Climate Change Response Amendment Bill was passed in November 2019 to provide a “framework by which New Zealand can develop and implement clear and stable climate change policies.” The MBIE “Transforming Operational Efficiency – Building for Climate Change” is the legislative proposal for the Construction Industry’s response to the Zero Carbon bill requirement for carbon budgets by 2036 and net zero carbon by 2050. The MBIE Whole of Life Embodied Carbon Emissions Reduction Framework is a white paper released alongside the Building for Climate Change paper, addressing embodied carbon.

What is a Green Star Rating?

The New Zealand Green Building Council’s (NZGBC) official Green Star rating is a globally recognised sustainability assessment system for existing buildings, new builds and building portfolios. It provides building developers and owners with a verified certification that demonstrates their commitment to low-carbon outcomes.

There are several rating systems in use worldwide that consider a wide range of factors to assess the overall environmental impact of a building. These rating “tools” allow building owners to select a mix of features that can contribute to the overall building performance and rating measured against a typical practice building. When considering carbon emissions, all of these tools include components that can be used for assessing the whole of life embodied carbon or operational carbon generated for different options being considered for a project.

In New Zealand, the most widely used tools are:

Helping you achieve the Green Star Rating for your building portfolio

WSP guides building managers, owners, operators, and designers to attain the Green Star Rating.

This service includes

• Act as the Green Star Accredited Professional for the project from concept design and through all design and delivery stages to consult on, and manage the process of a Green Star Design and As Built Rating submission to the New Zealand Green Building Council.
• Provide advice, support and information to the project team relating to sustainability.
• Managing, quality checking and co-ordinating the submission to the Green Building Council of New Zealand for certification.
• Establishing a Green Star Pathway to set out the strategy to achieve the targeted rating;
• Benchmarking the development of the design to ensure it performs in accordance with the Green Star Pathway.
• Compiling the Green Star Design Review and As Built submission and Liaising with the NZGBC throughout the process.
• Monthly report detailing Greenstar status, risk areas, design changes and approvals.

Sustainable Green Buildings Specialists

Our projects include commercial and residential buildings, research laboratories, stadiums, museums and public infrastructure schemes. Our experience spans sustainable green buildings such as Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, South Key Plaza in London, L’Avenue Shanghai, Sales Force Tower in San Francisco, National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, New City Office Complex in Warsaw, the Menlyn Maine green precinct development in Pretoria, and Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in Toronto.

Our projects in Aotearoa span from Toll Warehouse, Pegasus School, ASB North Wharf and Te Mirumiru childcare.

Our teams are involved in both new buildings and the renovation of existing buildings. At new buildings, they hold design charrettes, create energy models, guide energy efficiency decisions and manage green building certifications. At existing buildings it’s a case of carrying out energy audits and retro-commissioning in order to recommend improvements and show cost benefits, so business owners can make the right decisions.

Low Carbon, Green Building Design in Aotearoa, New Zealand

The New Zealand Government is leading the charge on setting standards for low carbon and green building design. The ‘Zero Carbon’ Climate Change Response Amendment Bill was passed in November 2019 to provide a “framework by which New Zealand can develop and implement clear and stable climate change policies”. The MBIE “Transforming Operational Efficiency – Building for Climate Change” is the legislative proposal for the Construction Industry’s response to the Zero Carbon bill requirement for carbon budgets by 2036 and net zero carbon by 2050. The MBIE Whole of Life Embodied Carbon Emissions Reduction Framework is a white paper released alongside the Building for Climate Change paper, addressing embodied carbon.

Government has begun to mandate through the procurement rules that agencies follow low carbon and green building initiatives. These include a requirement for government office space to achieve 4-star NABERS energy ratings (5 stars for new builds) and when designing and constructing a new building positive steps must be taken to reduce carbon emissions; where an agency decides to proceed with an option that is not the lowest possible carbon option available to meet the project brief, this must be signed of by the Chief Executive.