Certified Rating

A Homestar Certified Rating is an official confirmation of how well a home is performing within environmental attributes and provides a measured rating for both existing and new homes. The ideal time for Certification is after improvements and upgrades have been implemented, or before a home is rented or sold. It allows prospective buyers and tenants to understand the likely level of performance for a given home and easily compare it to other Homestar Certified Homes. It also may add to the capital value on a property.

The assessment process happens in two stages, with the homeowner/tenant engaging with a Homestar Assessor to submit their home for assessment. The comprehensive Homestar Certified Assessment is carried out by the Homestar Assessor who assesses the home against a set of pre-determined benchmarks within the Certified Manual. The Assessor then applies for a recommended star rating which is processed and issued by Homestar on the assessed property.

All Homestar Assessors are experienced industry professionals with a background in sustainability, building and or auditing.

Homestar also encourages creative design in order to achieve a high level of environmental sustainability. Where a home has excelled in some area not recognised by the Homestar tool, Innovation Points can be applied for if a design includes new or uncommon beneficial features. Flexibility of design in order to achieve credits is also facilitated via Credit Interpretation Requests, which allow points to be awarded where an objective is achieved through alternative means.

Standardisation and quality are maintained via auditing of submitted assessments. Auditing is carried out by NZGBC and auditing results will feed into future reviews of tools and processes to continually improve Homestar and ensure the relevance of each credit.