A survey from the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) in Vancouver shows construction stakeholder support for current municipal and provincial climate regulations for new housing.

ZEIC surveyed more than 100 British Columbia industry members who said they are either already meeting or will be able to meet provincial and City of Vancouver building energy regulations. 

These regulations include B.C.’s Step Code (i.e., Energy Step Code and Zero Carbon Step Code) and the city-based Vancouver Building Bylaw that aim to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions from buildings.

“British Columbia’s building industry say they are stepping up to deliver on climate-friendly, energy-efficient new homes, which are seeing rapidly growing market demand. Provincial and municipal climate policies for new buildings just aren’t significant contributors to added costs or slowdowns in housing development. To the contrary, proven technologies like electric heat pumps can lead to significant energy and costs savings for homeowners and building managers and occupants,” said ZEIC director Roberto Pecora.

A total of 109 members of B.C.’s building industry including housing development, construction, design and supply chain firms provided input.

Some key takeaways include:

• Eighty-one per cent of respondents said they are already meeting the requirements of the province-wide Step Code or are very confident that their firm will be able to meet these requirements by 2030.
• Eighty-five per cent of respondents foresee a major or moderate increase for the market demand for climate-friendly, energy-efficient homes with better indoor air quality will increase by 2030.
• Seventy-four per cent of respondents also said they have no difficulty or little difficulty in meeting the City of Vancouver’s energy efficiency and GHG bylaws for small and large buildings.
• Seventy-one per cent of respondents said the City of Vancouver’s leading emissions regulations/bylaws provided their business with a major or moderate competitive advantage.

The full report is available here.