Sustainable Design Scorecard (SDS)

What is the difference between FirstRate, STEPS, SDS and Green Star?

Buildings can be designed to various efficiency and amenity standards. The Building Code of Australia (BCA) outlines minimum necessary standards to meet relevant health, safety, amenity and energy efficiency objectives.
Meeting BCA energy efficiency standards through a 6-Star FirstRate rating does not reflect best practice standard.

The planning tools STEPS and SDS specify benchmarks in different environmental categories. Meeting these benchmarks confirms best practice standard for small to medium scale buildings. Large scale buildings commonly demonstrate best practice standard by obtaining a Green Star rating