The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) recently launched the first phase of its Zero Carbon Buildings Initiative.
The new framework is a precursor to the launch of a Zero Carbon Building Standard in spring 2017. Canada is striving to develop more lower-carbon commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential buildings in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases by 30% by 2030.
The Zero Carbon Buildings Framework establishes five key components for evaluating building carbon footprints:
• Greenhouse gas intensity metric for assessing a building’s emissions taking into account regional emissions factors
• Energy intensity metrics to incentivize design of highly efficient, reliable, and resilient buildings
• Peak energy demand metric to encourage the use of peak-shaving measures
• Embodied carbon metric to recognize importance of building material lifecycle impacts
• Requirement that renewable energy be generated on-site or procured directly
Upcoming phases of the Zero Carbon Initiative will include the identification of specific pathways to zero carbon, a zero carbon building pilot program, and the development of a verification program.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Sep 22, 2021
Illinois’s sweeping climate bill includes statewide stretch code, building electrification measures
Aims for zero-emissions power sector by 2045.
Codes and Standards | Sep 22, 2021
Cities need to step up flood mitigation efforts to save lives
Recent storms highlight climate change dangers.
Codes and Standards | Sep 21, 2021
Steps to improve ventilation for Covid can combat colds and flu
New look at airborne disease spread shows time viruses linger in air may have been underestimated.
Codes and Standards | Sep 15, 2021
USGBC will change leaders, conduct strategic review
Aims to ensure organization is ‘well positioned to scale its work in the post-pandemic world’.
Codes and Standards | Sep 15, 2021
LEED-certified offices earn higher rents than non-sustainable properties
Are also more resilient to dips in real estate market.
Codes and Standards | Sep 7, 2021
Boston turns to developer fees to fund flood protection infrastructure
Assessments on commercial properties will help build seawall and other protective measures.
Codes and Standards | Sep 3, 2021
Low-cost methods can have substantial impact on reducing embodied carbon
Whole-building design, material substitution, and specification strategies can slash carbon by up to 46%.
Codes and Standards | Sep 2, 2021
Case for power resiliency in buildings grows with more disaster and outages
Essential businesses like data centers, hospitals are first adopters of new storage systems.
Codes and Standards | Aug 31, 2021
UK industry group wants mandatory whole-life carbon assessments of buildings
Aims to address hidden emissions embedded in supply chains.
Codes and Standards | Aug 31, 2021
Home electrification will require code upgrades
Residential electric panel capacity must be increased.
