Livable Housing Australia provides pathway to Green Star certification

Buildings which receive a Platinum rating from Livable Housing Australia (LHA) will now also receive automatic Green Star points under the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) rating system for buildings.

Multiunit residential projects in which at least 10% of the dwellings meet the Platinum Level of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines will be automatically deemed compliant with the Green Star Mat-15 ‘Universal Design’ credit. Meanwhile, project teams that can demonstrate LHA Platinum Level certification will be automatically awarded one Green Star point within the Green Star - Multi Unit Residential rating tool.

The decision is part of the GBCA’s move to make Green Star certification easier and cheaper. LHA Executive Director Andrew Aitken noted, “Very few projects previously claimed the Mat-15 credit because it was costly and difficult to achieve.”

Aitken explained that the GBCA is now allowing projects to use the Livable Housing Guidelines, “instead of the standard that was previously referenced, and which is more than 15 years old”. He said LHA’s certification is “simple and straightforward … and Platinum Level certification can be achieved at very little cost”.

Aitken believes the new process will drive a faster uptake of liveable, versatile and flexible housing. He said the guidelines “are easy to apply to any housing project, and more than 250 individual dwellings have already achieved the seal of approval that attests to enhanced liveability”.

Aitken said there is “a growing list of professionals able to provide advice to clients on how to achieve the LHA Quality Mark”, with more than 30 people having already become LHA Registered Assessors.

“We are confident that many more project teams will seek LHA certification, and will be better placed to meet the evolving consumer demand for more liveable homes,” he concluded.

LHA’s Design Guidelines are available for free download from the LHA website, iTunes or Google Play.