Manitoba defends choice of lowest energy code for new builds

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This article was published 13/07/2023 (817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has decided to adopt the lowest possible standard for energy efficiency when the newest national model codes take effect next year.

“It’s a missed opportunity to reduce the cost of living for Manitobans,” said Laura Tyler, executive director of Sustainable Building Manitoba.

On July 7, the province announced the Manitoba Building Code, Manitoba Plumbing Code, Manitoba Energy Code and Manitoba Fire Code will all be updated to the 2020 national model codes, as of Jan. 1, 2024. Among five available tiers of energy efficiency for new buildings, Manitoba has adopted Tier 1, the lowest possible standard.

Allowing new residential builds at a Tier 1 level of energy efficiency is a step backwards, because houses are being built at the equivalent of Tier 2 or 3, said Tyler, whose non-profit organization promotes sustainable buildings and advocates for net-zero energy performance.

When asked why it chose the lowest tier, a government spokesperson said Manitoba’s adoption of the 2020 national codes is “an important step forward.”

In winter, and again in June, the provincial government held public consultations on the new codes. Both home and commercial builders advocated to start at Tier 1, and for government to work with industry to “to develop a road map” towards achieving higher tiers of energy efficiency, the spokesperson said in an email.

When the new codes take effect Jan. 1, Manitoba will carry over additional requirements for heat recovery ventilators in residential buildings, which is above the baseline of Tier 1 under the 2020 National Building Code of Canada, the email said.

The inclusion of heat recovery ventilation for new residential builds “is a very big deal,” said Tyler.

“It’s the main reason we are building Tier 2 and 3 homes already. They were specific modifications that Manitoba made when adopting the 2010 (national) codes.”

Sustainable Building Manitoba had recommended the province set the bar at Tier 3 for residential buildings, Tyler said.

During the government’s public consultations, hundreds of construction professionals, concerned Manitobans, and the Manitoba Building Trades (which advocates on behalf of 13 unions and more than 10,000 professionals) spoke in support of adopting the building codes at a minimum of Tier 2 for residential buildings, Tyler said.

The spokesperson for the provincial government said Tier 1 is the minimum requirement, “and those builders building to higher standards can continue to do so.”

Builders who build to higher standards aren’t the problem, Tyler said Wednesday. Residential builders who choose to do the “bare minimum” are the concern, costing consumers more to heat and cool as a result.

“For commercial builds, owners tend to be involved from the beginning and play a real role in shaping the project. For residential, that is not the case, as developers don’t often have the future owner lined up in advance and instead build so they are ‘move-in ready,’” Tyler said.

“This is why codes are such a big consumer protection issue — and why it is so disappointing that the government bypassed this opportunity to make life more affordable for new homeowners.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca