A greener building code for BC

(Mar 11, 2008) At the turn of the last century, when fuel was cheap and the planet infinite, builders in British Columbia used to “insulate” homes with whatever was kicking around. As a case in point, my brother has a beautiful old house with walls full of crumpled newspapers, which, after 110 years, don’t do much to keep the chill out.

Building towards carbon neutral
Fortunately, those days are long gone, and thanks to the imminent arrival of the BC “Green Building Code”, homes in the province are only getting warmer. Due out later this year, the new Code is meant to help the government meets its ambitious green target of making all government operations carbon neutral by 2010, and reducing the province’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent below 2007 levels by 2020, and by 80 percent by 2050.

Key areas
The two main sections included in the code address both energy and water efficiency.
Energy Efficiency:

buildings under five storeys will need to either meet increased insulation requirements (minimum R-20 in the walls and R-44 in the attic) or attain a specified score in the EnerGuide for New Houses rating system

larger buildings will have to meet the 2004 Energy Standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

Water Efficiency:

all new buildings will have to be outfitted with ultra low-flush toilets (ULFs) that consume just 6 litres per flush instead of the previous limit of 13.5 litres per flush

A conservative approachWhile this new Green Building Code is commendable, it is not exactly revolutionary. Many municipalities in the province have already mandated ULF toilets, and meeting the ASHRAE standards is the bare minimum for any large project that considers itself remotely green. As for the insulation criteria for smaller buildings, the new standard can be met by building 2x6 stud walls with fibreglass insulation – the de facto standard for most builders already.

The new BC Green Building Code won’t do much to advance the cutting edge of building technology, but it will stop builders from constructing egregiously inefficient buildings. Yet even this small step forward puts British Columbia ahead of most other jurisdictions in North America. In Canada, only Ontario has a more environmentally stringent building code and in the US, only a handful of states have similarly strict guidelines.

Mark Mallet is a LEED Accredited professional consultant and writer based in Nelson, B.C. specializing in the green building industry. He is a regular contributor to Green Living Online.


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