Zero-Emissions Building Standards: Vancouver

Overview

Vancouver launched in 2016 its Zero Emissions Building Plan, which establishes specific targets and actions to achieve zero emissions in all new buildings by 2030. The energy and emission limits for new buildings have been integrated into the local building code and the limits will be reduced over time.

Vancouver is the only Canadian municipality with its own building code. To support the Zero-Emission Building Plan, the government implemented in 2019 a new code, which officially recognized the “Passive House” zero-emission standard, aiding the permitting process. The building code mandates that new multi-family residential and commercial buildings comply with limits on total energy-use intensity and greenhouse-gas emission intensity. As of January 2022, zero-emission equipment for heating and additional roof insulation will be required for low-rise residential buildings.

Vancouver city has a population of 632,000. It has a moderate climate and its building stock had an average energy intensity of 308kWh per square-meter per year in 2014. The 2019 building code sets the total energy use limit at 110-170kWh/m2/year and greenhouse-gas emission limit to 5-14kg of CO2-equivalent per square-meter per year, depending on the type of building.

Impact

Nearly 60% of carbon pollution in Vancouver comes from buildings. Yet their decarbonization will need multiple strategies and technologies due to economic and social barriers. Regulatory standards have proved more effective as building owners have no choice but to comply: in Vancouver, new buildings in 2019 were estimated to produce almost 50% less carbon emissions than in 2007 – at 9-11kg of CO2-equivalent per square-meter, down from 20-25kg.

As was the case in Vancouver, governments often start by tackling emissions from new buildings as they are easier to tackle than existing properties. However, they are the tip of the building-decarbonization iceberg: less than 1% of the building stock is added each year.

Opportunity

Most buildings built today will still be used in the 2050s. As such, by requiring new properties to have lower emissions, the government is decreasing the number of buildings that will need to undergo costly and time-consuming renovations in the future. One factor that could make it easier for Vancouver to reduce building emissions than elsewhere in the world is that its electricity mix is already close to 100% renewables.

Other enabling factors are to allow the construction industry time to adapt to new standards, and a strong local know-how can aid policy development. Designing policy in collaboration between cities, national governments and industry creates an opportunity to develop knowledge centers and a climate-target-aligned construction sector.

In addition, voluntary measures can help prepare for future standards and compulsory measures. Vancouver provided incentives by relaxing regulations for Passive House standard buildings since 2018, preparing for mandatory standards for residential buildings from 2022.

As mentioned above, Vancouver is one of few cities with its own building code, which enables the city to enforce its Zero Emissions plan. Cities without such bylaws must collaborate with regional and national governments to enact stricter energy and emissions standards for buildings, and work to integrate these standards in local building permission procedures. Some countries have also yet to implement a national building code.

Source: BloombergNEF

Source

Source: BloombergNEF and C40 report, Building on Cities to Deliver a Green and Just Recovery

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