Decarbonising housing is a critical near-term opportunity that requires innovation able to scale across both new delivery models and the existing building stock. The GBCA's Green Star Homes Standard and the Apartments pathway within Green Star Buildings have been developed as complementary market-transformation tools, driving demand for high-performance, net-zero ready homes across detached housing, apartments and build-to-rent portfolios. This paper examines how the Apartments rating tool is shifting expectations for multi-residential performance by providing a clear, consumer-relevant certification pathway for developers, owners and operators.
We also analyse how GBCA is activating consumer demand for certified sustainable homes through mainstream public engagement, including partnership marketing via widely viewed television content such as Jamie Durie’s Future House, which brings practical sustainable home choices into everyday decision-making. Drawing on evidence from early certified apartment and build-to-rent projects, stakeholder interviews and program data, we assess how certification and consumer-facing storytelling influence design decisions, procurement priorities, operational energy outcomes, health and comfort performance, and resident value propositions.
A second focus investigates the role of sustainable finance in accelerating uptake across the residential market. This includes preferential lending and investment products for Green Star certified build-to-rent projects, alongside emerging green home loan offerings that reward buyers and renovators of Green Star aligned dwellings. Findings indicate that Green Star certification is increasingly operating as both a consumer demand signal and an investor requirement, offering a trusted mechanism to demonstrate climate risk mitigation, whole-life carbon outcomes and resilience in residential assets. We frame this integrated innovation, combining consumer market activation, credible certification and finance that rewards verified performance, as a scalable pathway to transform multi-residential housing and home renovations at pace.
This research aligns with SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, and SDG 13 Climate Action.