Reduced Documentation Requirements

As part of the Green Star Spring Clean, we have reduced the number of documents that are required in order to demonstrate compliance with Green Star credits.

The NZGBC has conducted a review of the submission documents that are required for each credit in Green Star, based on project experience and Assessor comments. We have removed documentation requirements which don’t significantly add to the robustness of the credit, whilst still maintaining the integrity of the Green Star system. Overall, some improvements have been made to most credits and one or more of the documentation requirements have been removed from around half of the credits.

The reduced documentation requirements are detailed in:

• The new Credit Templates. The templates take account of the reduced documentation requirements, and only include compliance requirements which are still required for each credit. This is the best place to look to find out what the remaining requirements are.
• Updated Technical Manuals. The Technical Manuals have been updated with struck-through text where compliance requirements have been removed. If you wish to purchase an updated manual, please go to the website. Or, if you have purchased a Technical Manual from us since 1 October, please contact us for an updated version. Please note that the updated Technical Manuals have only been updated with strike-throughs of the documentation that is no longer required. They still need to be read alongside the published Technical Clarifications and Credit Interpretation Requests. There are discounts available on Technical Manuals if purchased with a training course – refer to the website for details.
• The Summary of Changes document. This has been produced using a traffic light system to indicate whether the requirements of each credit have been reduced or not. This gives a quick summary of how each credit has been changed. As the document is just a general summary, the individual Credit Templates should be referred to for specific details.

The changes we’ve made mean less work for GSAPs and project teams working on Green Star projects, as there are fewer pieces of documentation to pull together. However, if you wish to continue to comply with the full documentation requirements in the old Technical Manual, you are welcome to do so and you will not be penalised for it.

If you have concerns about the documents which we have removed, please feel free to contact us.