In response to the City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, Vancouver City Council approved recommendations this past May to introduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission regulations for existing large commercial and retail buildings. The regulations include GHG intensity (GHGi) limits and heat energy limits, as well as annual energy and carbon reporting requirements.
The GHG emissions and heating energy limits for these building types will require owners and energy utilities to plan for deep carbon retrofits and investments in alternative energy sources. Key highlights:
- The energy and carbon reporting requirements come into effect in 2024.
- The GHGi limits come into effect in 2026, with a proposed $350/tonne CO2e fee for emissions that exceed the limit.
- The heating energy limits come into effect in 2040, with a proposed $100/gigajoule fee for heating energy that exceeds the limit.
Other regions and cities, including Metro Vancouver, are now also considering following suit and introducing GHGi and heating energy limits for their regions.
Although the limits are a positive step towards decarbonizing the building sector, much work remains to be done to make these buildings comply with the regulations. Currently, many buildings do not meet the limits stipulated in the bylaw. According to PUMA’s 2021 office building benchmarking report only 10 per cent of buildings within the dataset currently fall within 2040 heat energy limits, 80 per cent fall within the 2026 GHGi limits, and 2 per cent fall within the 2040 GHGi net-zero limits. Although 2026 and 2040 may seem like the distant future, retrofitting buildings to achieve the deep reductions targeted takes several years, effort and cost. Getting an early start on this work is critically important.
The good news is that help is available. Several programs can be leveraged to support the transition to lower GHGi and heating energy in existing buildings.
- Deep carbon retrofit studies to assess potential technical solutions are often a great place to begin and allow for planning of upgrades over time.
- Low-carbon electrification and heating plant upgrades can be effective ways to reduce building GHGi and heating energy consumption.
- The PUMA online monitoring platform also offers an effective way to track carbon and energy to meet the reporting requirements the City of Vancouver will begin enforcing in 2024.
- Various funding streams also exist to help you move forward with these initiatives — check out this article we wrote recently on rebates and incentives.
Interested in finding out more about these new regulations and what they mean for your buildings?
Feel free to reach out to us — we’d be happy to chat. Contact Iram Green, Energy Team Lead, at iram@prismgengineering.com.