What is Green Star?

Developed by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Green Star is an independent, voluntary and holistic rating system for sustainable buildings and communities.

Green Star provides guidance for building and community owners and developers in setting sustainability goals, and provides independent verification that these goals have been achieved through the Green Star certification scheme.

How does Green Star work?

Green Star assesses buildings and communities against a range of environmental criteria such as water management, energy use and the selection of sustainable materials for construction.

Social and economic sustainability criteria are also assessed including access to education facilities, affordable housing, and the provision of high quality digital infrastructure to support local business.

Where a building or community is recognised as achieving great sustainability outcomes, it is rewarded by GBCA with a Green Star certification of:

• 4 Star Green Star signifying ‘Best Practice’
• 5 Star Green Star signifying ‘Australian Excellence’
• 6 Star Green Star signifying ‘World Leadership’.

What does Green Star mean for residents?

As the urban planning authority responsible for Bowden, Renewal SA has not only set an impressive 5 Star Green Star certification mandate for buildings across the community, but also exceeded this benchmark by achieving a 6 Star Green Star rating for the Bowden community itself.

Bowden also has the highest concentration of Green Star residential buildings in Australia, so as a resident you can be confident that your community is:

• A healthy place to live with spaces for social activities and community interaction and amenities to suit all ages, cultures, backgrounds and interests.
• A convenient place to live with access to public transport making it easy for you to travel to and from work, school or social events.
• An affordable place to live with accommodation options to suit your budget and homes that are specially designed to keep your energy and water costs low.
• An environmentally friendly place to live where there are green spaces to enjoy, water and energy are conserved and local flora and fauna is protected.
• A prosperous place to live with local business and employment opportunities and access to core business infrastructure like high-speed internet to keep you connected.