Green standards must be uniform in province of Ontario

Aug 29, 2009 04:30 AM


When it comes to sustainable development and green building, everybody wants to do the right thing but sometimes doing the right thing can be done the wrong way. Recent attempts by individual municipalities to mandate green building standards would be a good example.

Municipal mandating of their own or other green building programs or labels is not only redundant, but runs completely contrary to the concept of a uniform provincial building code, says BILD chair Leith Moore, who delivered that pointed message to Ontario's local political leaders gathered at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

Moore explained that while the Ontario Building Code is a minimum standard, when it comes to energy conservation, it is anything but minimal.

By way of example, he pointed out that the 2007 changes to the OBC brought about a 12 per cent increase in wall insulation, a 29 per cent increase in ceiling insulation, a 50 per cent increase in basement wall insulation, and a 67 per cent increase in the energy efficiency of windows. As well, gas and propane furnaces moved from a minimum of 78 per cent energy efficiency to a minimum of 90 per cent efficiency.

Continuing the evolution of the code, at the beginning of this year, full height basement insulation became mandatory. Moreover, by 2011, every new home built in Ontario will have to meet an EnerGuide 80 standard, which is a healthy stretch goal for builders, but one which many are already meeting, if not exceeding.

Meanwhile, the recently passed Green Energy Act contained amendments to the Ontario Building Code, under which energy and water conservation are now purposes of the code, which is a clear indication of further code-driven leadership on the green front.

"Each generation of newly built homes has been much more energy efficient than the previous generation as the building code has continually evolved. The energy efficiency of new homes and condos is not our biggest problem – it's the relative inefficiency of all the older homes and buildings out there," Moore told the mayors.

Notwithstanding the continuous evolution of the building code, some municipalities have been mandating their own or other green labels which is where Moore draws the line. "Our biggest concern with municipal mandating revolves around fragmentation of the Ontario Building Code. The whole point of a uniform provincial code is to ensure that developers, new home builders and professional renovators don't have to operate in a fragmented regulatory environment where each municipality has different rules," he stated.

"The building code is the only standard that is legally binding. Labels are just that — they are not building standards, they are definitely not codes, and while they are all generally well conceived, they have no place in any municipally-mandated regulatory scheme," Moore asserted.

"The code is developed through an open consultation process lead by government and that's the key distinction between the Ontario Building Code and the various label programs, which are not accountable to anyone but their own governing bodies. We need to acknowledge that we already work within an overly complex environment and neither the industry, nor municipalities, can afford to risk positive outcomes through a patchwork quilt implementation of green aspirations," he added.

Moore acknowledges that if the code is to be "king," it has to continually evolve, which is why he welcomes the Green Energy Act. "We as an industry have to be open to regular review of the Ontario Building Code to capture new innovations and best green practices," he concluded.