The federal government is working on creating a Clean Electricity Regulation that will result in net zero electricity across Canada by 2035. Many in the industry are looking at how they would accomplish this goal including the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) who recently modelled the cost of achieving deep emission reductions in a province with some of the highest electricity emissions in the country.
Supported by the sector, a national model code objective has been put forward that recognizes the impact of operational and embodied carbon emissions throughout the buildings’ lifecycle. This change could open the door for building code provisions that limit or reduce emissions from building operations as well as construction materials.
In part one, we examined five high level themes that could help guide Canada’s new federal Green Building Strategy. Part two will examine specific policies and policy frameworks that the Strategy must consider to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
By establishing “net-zero emissions” as the goal of the Green Building Strategy the federal government will need to lead a process of structural change towards that end state. That means defining the building standards and policies that are needed to reach net-zero and forging coalitions of provinces, municipalities, utilities, businesses etc. taking actions consistent with that goal. A net-zero framework therefore contrasts with previous strategies that focused on incremental emission reductions and efficiency improvements, and relied upon achieving consensus amongst provinces and territories.
In this blog, we dig into the intent of the 2020 model building codes, how Ontario is adopting and harmonizing their approach, and what it can teach us about how model code adoption may be applied in other provinces. The conclusion is that the federal government needs to take action to accelerate commitments to net-zero buildings. To reach these commitments, citizens concerned about climate change also need to raise their voices.
Sign-up to get the latest in energy efficiency news!