How do I market my REGISTERED Green Star project?

Green Star is a registered trade mark of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

The Green Star trade mark is widely recognised across Australia as an indicator that buildings satisfy GBCA's specific environmental rating criteria. By using the registered trade mark without approved CERTIFICATION, it is the GBCA's view that consumers are likely to be misled or deceived by falsely believing that the project has achieved such certification.

Once you've registered your project for Green Star Certification, you can start to market it as a REGISTERED Green Star project. However, you cannot use the Green Star trade mark, and there are three important rules that you must adhere to.

RULE ONE

If a project IS registered with the Green Building Council of Australia it can state (prior to receiving official certification): "Registered for a Green Star - [Office Design, Office As Built, Office Interiors, Healthcare, Education, Shopping Centre Design etc] rating."

RULE TWO

If a project is NOT registered with the Green Building Council of Australia it cannot make any statements referring to Green Star and all claims will be viewed as trade mark infringements.

If the GBCA is alerted to any infringements against the copyright of Green Star it will issue a formal legal letter instructing the organisation to take immediate action to rectify the situation.

RULE THREE

You cannot make statements in promotional pertaining to the level of Green Star (such as 4, 5 or 6 Star) as this may not be achieved at final certification. This includes:

• Advertising billboards or similar;
• Press releases, newsletters (external and internal) and articles in publications;
• Print, radio and TV advertising;
• Websites, direct email campaigns and on-line advertising;
• Flyers, pamphlets, posters or similar;
• Invitations to seminars, launch parties or similar;
• Interviews and presentation materials.

Confidential documents, such as tenders, are excluded from this rule.

For more information, download the Green Star Marketing Pack. Or contact Emma Piper, National Marketing and Communications Manager on (02) 8252 8222.