We welcome the opportunity to provide our thoughts and perspectives on the priorities laid out in Building the Canada We Want in 2050 Engagement Paper on the National Infrastructure Assessment. The Canada we want in 2050, with more inclusive and livable communities that offer affordable housing for all Canadians, can be achieved via wide-scale retrofits and net-zero new builds constructed with low and zero carbon building materials.
Green Development Standards (GDS) can act as a low-cost, effective way to act on the the climate emergency. Authored by Kevin Lockhart.
We are writing to ask you to approve recommendation A, B, and C in the report, which will help reduce building permit delays, and vote down recommendation D which proposes a one-year delay in implementing the city’s Climate Emergency Action Plan requirement that new homes be built with zero emissions heating and hot water requirements.
Airtightness testing is a critical measure needed to ensure that unintentional airflow does not cause energy losses, structural damage, or poor indoor air quality in new buildings.
The best time to plan the “how” in compliance, is before the updated codes are in force across Canada. To reap the benefits of tomorrow’s tiered energy codes, we need to start planning and actioning compliance initiatives today.
