The thesis topic presented in this document is Quantifying the ‘Greenness’ of Green Buildings. Significant research of this subject, however, revealed that many possible thesis topics could be included within this one term. It was decided to redefine the objective of the thesis to Determine the Effectiveness of the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating Scheme, a widely used Australian quantifying tool. Selection of this topic was based on the desire to establish results that would be helpful to a civil engineering career in Australia. Chapters two to four present information that helps define the ‘effectiveness’ of a green building quantifying tool. This information includes what a green building is and what a green evaluation tool does, the characteristics of available rating tools and how Australia’s implementation of green designs practices, based on the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating Scheme (ABGR), reflect the effectiveness of the ABGR tool. Based on the literature reviewed in chapters two to four, it was concluded that an effective green evaluation tool is a tool that can measure the sustainability of a building. The rating allocated from this measurement must, however, produce useful information. Information, as found from the literature review, would be useful if it assessed a building based on how well it compares with social expectations. The Australian Building Greenhouse Rating Scheme was found to be effective, based on these conclusions. Research of this subject also lead to the recommendation that green evaluation tools must evolve with social green design attitudes. Potential, future research topics into Quantifying the Greenness of Green Buildings are also presented.