We have never shared internal communication between staff and management on our blog but this particular email contains very exciting information for our industry. Keep in mind that the information in the email is by no means set in stone, but rather things we can expect to happen in our industry in the next year or so…
On Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 3:25pm, Greg Elzinga wrote to Eric Schapira:
Of all the HPO seminars I have been to over the years, this one was the most exciting; and exciting not just for the future of our industry, but also for the future of residential green building! The instructor, Murray Frank is an excellent, professional trainer. If you see him teaching a seminar, sign up for it!
The BC government’s “Climate Change Action Plan” & goal of being energy independent by 2016 is mandating some sweeping changes to Part 10 of 2011 BC Building Code (released Oct 2010 & enforced Oct 2011) that will apply to all Part 3 (multi-family & commercial) & Part 9 (single-family) structures. The most exciting is the application of the EnerGuide system to all homes.
None of the items have been officially confirmed as it still needs to be dove-tailed with the National Building Code (there is no Part 10, only in BC & Ontario; though Alberta, Saskatchewan & Quebec are actively looking at adopting BC’s model). Also, the Ministry of Housing is still consulting with industry stakeholders. The information provided to us at this time is to be considered ‘expectations’ for the 2011 BC Building Code.
To sell a new BC home in 2011 it must comply (this is certain) with a minimum EnerGuide 80 rating (80% efficiency), likely upping to 85 for the 2016 BC Building Code & 90 rating by 2021. All resale homes must also be rated (this is confirmed); anticipating that an average home built from the 1950 to 1975 will achieve an EnerGuide 50 rating or marginally better. The BC Real Estate Association endorses this program as it applies to all homes for sale, thus a level playing field.
The EnerGuide assessment must be completed by a certified auditor using a fan test & verification of receipts of installed appliances & fixtures. The BC-CHBA enthusiastically supports this as it will go a long way in eliminating the underground construction economy & drive people to use professional services.
Basically every 10 point difference from 50 to 80 represents $1,000/year in energy costs. The instructor detailed there are numerous ways to achieve higher EnerGuide rating more effectively during renovation than just costly insulation retrofit installations. Insulation will still play a significant role but not with batt insulation.
The number one way to gain efficiencies is with air-tightness (not to be confused with vapour barrier). Murray explained how the poly vapour barrier does far more harm & other techniques to achieve high performance vapour using paint & caulking. That Perfect Panel link you showed me & other innovative wall systems similar to those (SIPS: Structural Insulated Panel Systems) are going to rapidly gain market share. The days of traditional wood sheathing & batt insulation are going to be relegated to renovations, only used to match up to existing assemblies.
The most cost-effective, though it requires a larger outlay of cash is installing heat pumps on forced-air systems, ditching the gas-fired furnace & installing 100% efficient electric booster system. In the Lower Mainland a heat pump operates with 300-400% efficiency. It starts to dip to efficiencies around 200% at -30°C. This one change nets the largest amount of EnerGuide points.
The third significant EnerGuide point gain is with solar energy, be it heat recovery or photo-voltaic. The 2011 BC Building Code may be mandating similar construction techniques as the Vancouver Building By-law i.e. 24V connection “rough-in ready” for the electrical panel and/or a shaft for solar heat recovery piping to the mechanical room. It is recognized that solar energy collection will not be optimum for each site but good design in new construction can maximize its potential. Mechanical rooms will be getting larger, with heat recovery ventilator, recovery tanks, on-demand domestic hot water, booster boilers & in the future grey water/purple pipe systems.
The purple pipe system, grey water distribution system, was considered for the 2011 BC Building Code but is was deemed too much for the housing industry & consumer to bear on top of the EnerGuide compliance. Murray Frank’s professional opinion was definitely to anticipate it in the 2016 edition.
One final system of note… Heat Recovery Ventilator. Murray thinks we should be moving to the most value-priced system; a simple, properly sized & balanced heat recovery ventilator installed with a few zone-controlled electric heat coils in key duct locations. It is 100% energy efficient with heat only delivered to where it is required instead of blasting the whole house. For a heating system, it is practically elegant.
As you can see from the length of my email, this seminar was beyond useful & informative!
We, here at Klondike Contracting, are very excited for the new challenges these anticipated changes will pose because it the means to better and healthier homes for all our clients in the long run!
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