Pick up where you left off.
Course Content
Designing for 7-Star Compliance on Difficult Sites: Slopes and Overshadowing
On a shaded, sloping site, more north glass can lower the rating. Find the gap before the plan locks.
How slope and neighbouring buildings change what NatHERS calculates, when a drone survey or laser scan earns its cost, which mix of insulation, glazing and window sizing closes the gap to seven stars at the lowest cost, and the brief and compliance file that protect your practice when the rating is questioned.
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4 modules, 2 case studies, final quiz and certificate.
Introduction and objectives
Why the standard route to seven stars stops working when the site slopes or the winter sun is blocked.
Why Difficult Sites Break Standard Compliance Assumptions
Read slope, overshadowing and climate zone as thermal inputs, and see where volume builder modelling assumptions fail.
Capturing Accurate Site Data Before Design Locks In
Decide when a drone survey or laser scan pays, and turn the data into obstruction inputs your assessor can use.
Cost-Benefit Strategies for Reaching 7 Stars Without Sacrificing Design
Compare insulation, glazing and window sizing on what each star costs, and combine them without gutting the design.
Documentation, Assessor Collaboration, and Practice Protection
Brief the assessor, keep a compliance file and change log, and prevent the late failures that reopen a rating.
A sloping block and an overshadowed infill lot
A regional sloping site taken from 6.1 to 7.1 stars, and an infill lot where estimated shadows hid a 1.1 star gap.
Key takeaways
Insulation first, glazing second, window sizing last, and a record of every model run.
Final quiz and certificate
Ten project scenarios across the four objectives. Pass and the certificate goes straight into your dashboard.
Intermediate. For designers and assessors who already work with NatHERS as a compliance pathway. Covers slope and overshadowing in the model, site data capture, cost-benefit compliance strategies and assessor documentation, with worked examples in climate zone six. The seven star minimum is the same under NCC 2022 and NCC 2025.
Written for the people who have to get a difficult site to seven stars.
Architects
Your client chose the slope or the view, and the rating has to follow without losing the design.
Building designers
The assessor’s first run shows the shaded north glazing is costing stars, not earning them.
NatHERS assessors
You model obstructions from the inputs you are given, and estimated heights hide the real gap.
Energy assessors
You are asked to close a star gap with upgrades that work on a flat block but not on this one.
Residential builders
Late specification changes to rescue a rating land on your price and your programme.
Where this hour goes on your record.
National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA 2021) performance criteria this course aligns with:
Client requirements and project feasibility
Building science in the conceptual design
Environmental sustainability over the lifecycle
Integrating sustainable environmental systems
Accurate, on-time documents for stakeholders
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If you are |
How it is recorded |
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A building designer |
1 CPD point in energy efficiency and design documentation. Your certificate, the learning outcomes, the module outline and your quiz result are kept in your dashboard, so you can show what you studied if your CPD is audited. |
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An architect |
1 formal CPD point. Aligned with NSCA 2021 performance criteria PC19, PC28, PC31, PC33 and PC47. |
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A NatHERS assessor, energy assessor or builder |
1 hour of CPD on seven star compliance on difficult sites, recorded on your certificate for your assessor scheme or state CPD. |
CPD On Demand is not a registered training organisation and courses are not accredited by any registration body. Each course is aligned with the relevant competency frameworks and gives you the records to evidence it. CPD rules differ by registration body and state, so check with yours if you are unsure.
Pairs well with.
Getting NatHERS Right Before It Goes to the Assessor
The handover to the assessor, done right on any site.
Beyond 7 Stars: Passive Design Tactics That Actually Work in NatHERS
The passive design moves that earn stars once the site allows them.
When a Design Change Triggers a Whole-of-Home Re-Rating (And How to Avoid It)
Keeping late design changes from reopening the compliance result.
Before you enrol.
Get a sloping or shaded site to seven stars without gutting the design, in one self-paced hour.
$99, 60 minutes, certificate on completion.