CRD presses pause on building code aimed at improving energy efficiency
Greater Victoria’s homebuilders are commending the Capital Regional District for taking a cautious approach with the province’s Energy Step Code.
The CRD, which surveyed the construction industry this year on behalf of the region’s municipalities about the new regulations, has decided not to change its building bylaw to incorporate Step Code requirements until there is a better understanding of the impact the changes will have.
The Step Code is an amendment to the B.C. Building Code announced this year. Local governments around B.C. are exploring options to support its adoption and address gaps in their current building energy policies.
“We see this as the CRD wanting to get all the information and understand all the implications of Step Code rather than taking the spin doctoring of the province, which has glossed over a lot of the challenges,” said Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builder’s Association. “This is the biggest change to the building code in decades and it will increase the cost of housing significantly.”
Builders have made the argument the code, which is to be introduced in stages starting this winter, could add as much as $80,000 to the price of a new home.
That argument has hit the mark with the CRD.
“The reality is it will drive up costs and with housing costs already at a place where we are sensitive to it, we are asking how can we do other things that might be better,” said CRD board chair Barb Desjardins.
Desjardins said the Step Code puts the region into a difficult position. “Recognizing that Step Code is about improving the situation around energy efficiency, we’re either moving ahead to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increasing costs or we are staying the same and not addressing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
Desjardins said homebuilders have told her they can make more impact on greenhouse gases by renovating older homes instead of requiring new builds, already being built to a high green standard, to increase their efficiency and their cost.
“We need to be cautious on this one because here we are trying to do all the right things to get to the right place with greenhouse gas emissions, but we are being challenged and told [as a region] we are not affordable,” she said.
The province, however, said implementing the Step Code will not add a lot of cost to the price of a new home.
In a statement, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson said the ministry consulted extensively on the code and the province has offered support with guides, costing research, technical training and presentations.
“The Energy Step Code is designed to enable the construction of affordable, energy efficient homes. It will also improve consistency in building regulations by replacing the patchwork of variable green building standards required or encouraged by local governments in the past,” she said.
A government study on the impact of Step Code suggested a single-family home built in Greater Victoria would see an increase in cost of about $1,100 at step one, up to as much as $17,485 at step five.
Edge said those figures are out to lunch. “The additional cost of $17,485 to build a passive home [a home that combines air tightness, insulation and heat recovery to reduce energy use] in our region is not credible. A survey of my builders, some of whom are netzero and passive home builders, say the additional cost will be between $55,000 and $110,000,” he said. “In this environment of rising labour and material costs, I would wager on the higher side.”
Edge said the industry in many cases is already building energy efficient homes.