GAGBC: More than 200 buildings registered under zero-carbon standard
The Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) is reporting that registrations for its Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) standard have doubled, to more than 200, in the past six months.
Developed by the CAGBC in 2017, the ZCB standards offer projects a framework to achieve zero carbon buildings. Nearly 60 projects have been certified under the standard, with a further 224 more currently registered. That figure is more than double the number that were registered as recently as June.
The trend, says CAGBC, shows that the industry is overcoming the challenges in achieving zero carbon for new and existing building projects across Canada.
“For years, CAGBC has focused on zero-carbon buildings in our standards, education, research and advocacy. Now we are starting to see results, with more zero-carbon projects, more retrofit financing options, and more government programs and policies supporting a low-carbon building sector,” said Thomas Mueller, CAGBC’s President and CEO. “We can’t let this momentum slow in scaling the decarbonization of Canadian buildings by 2050 which will require a massive effort from across the building sector and all levels of government.”
CAGBC’s Zero Carbon Building standards include the Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard for new construction and major renovations, and the Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard, which is an annual certification ensuring zero-carbon operations.
In June, CAGBC launched the third version of ZCB-Design, providing projects with increased flexibility to meet thermal energy demand intensity requirements, addressing embodied carbon, and limiting onsite combustion. The standard is a requirement for new buildings under Infrastructure Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.
“We continue to evolve the ZCB standards to provide a framework for all buildings seeking to eliminate carbon emissions and lower embodied carbon,” said Mark Hutchinson, Vice-President of Green Building Programs and Innovation at CAGBC. “While the standards balance rigour with flexibility, reaching zero requires effort and planning. To meet Canada’s climate targets, all building owners should be revisiting their asset plans with carbon reductions in mind.”
In last year’s Decarbonizing Canada’s Large Buildings report, CAGBC suggested that not only can all types of existing buildings be decarbonized, but also the most cost-effective approach to do so it by aligning deep retrofits with regular building system life cycles. For example, a building might only execute improvements to the envelop once in its lifetime – so it is imperative that when that opportunity comes, carbon reductions are front and centre.
The new ZCB-Design certification can be leveraged for deep carbon retrofits on existing buildings. It also requires transition planning to ensure there is a plan to address any systems reliant on combustion. CAGBC will be working on programming to help support teams develop their own transition plans in the coming months.
“For most existing buildings, you have one chance to do deep carbon retrofits right,” Hutchinson said. “Don’t miss that opportunity.”