Innovation Comes at a Cost
And this is going to hurt!
On January 1st 2015, Vancouver’s new building by-law will take affect with a push to make Vancouver homes more comfortable, quieter and have lower monthly costs. Some of the significant changes as a result of the Vancouver Greenest City Initiative will include things like thicker walls, higher insulation values and better overall air tightness…
Using both the 2010 National Building Code of Canada (NBC) and the current 2012 British Columbia Provincial Building Code (BCBC) as the base document, The City of Vancouver is developing the next edition of the Vancouver Building Bylaw. Thanks to their innovative Greenest City initiative, Vancouver will soon lead the world in green building design and construction.
As part of this initiative, the City is working to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the city’s new homes by as miuch as 33% by 2020, with the goal of making all new buildings “carbon neutral” by 2030. Simultaneously, their aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings by 20% over 2007 levels.
As a result, the new Vancouver Building Bylaw set to be adopted on January 1st 2015 will result in some significant changes including:
Major Renovations:
- Enhancements for accessibility and the disabled
- Review of guardrail safety & width of staircases
- Increased energy efficiency including R22 effective insulation
- Dedicated 240V outlet in garage or carport
- Wood burning fireplaces max 2.5 grams/hour – catalytic Max 4.5 grams/hour – non catalytic
- 13mm max door threshold
- 34″ min entrance door width
New Homes:
- Maximum 3.5 air changes per hour or less through cracks and holes
- Easier-to-operate lever handles – no round ones anymore!
- Bathroom on the main floor with a low-barrier shower for homes more than 583 sqft
- Can now collect rainwater and use it for non-potable uses like flushing toilets.
