Purposes of this policy

1   The purpose of this policy is provide a guideline and establish requirements for ensuring new buildings, additions, and major renovations of City-owned buildings are net zero emissions in operation.

Application

2   This policy applies to every new construction, addition and major renovation in relation to a City building.

Interpretation

3   The Interpretation Bylaw applies to this policy.

Definitions

4   In this policy

"addition" means

(a) an extension to any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy

(b) having a gross floor area of greater than 500 m², and

(c) requiring a standalone HVAC system;

"applicable project" means

(a) a new City building,

(b) an addition to a City building, and

(c) a major renovation of a City building;

"avoided emissions from carbon offsets" means emissions that are avoided by purchasing high-quality carbon offsets, which can be used to offset direct or indirect emissions;

"avoided emissions from exported green power" means equivalent emissions reduced because of exported green power;

"City building" means a building that is owned by the City and used to provide a municipal service;

"Climate Action Reserve Fund" or "CARF" has the same meaning as in the Reserve Funds Establishment Bylaw;

"direct emissions" means emissions that occur at a project site because of the combustion of fossil fuels or the release of refrigerants;

"Environmental services staff" means the group of City employees appointed to own, review, and amend this policy under the guidance of the General Manager of Engineering and Regional Utilities;

"green power" means renewable energy sources and specific clean energy technologies that emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions relative to other sources of energy that supply the electric grid and includes

(a) solar photovoltaic panels,

(b) solar thermal energy,

(c) geothermal energy,

(d) landfill gas,

(e) low-impact hydro power, and

(f) wind turbines;

"indirect emissions" means emissions associated with purchased energy consumed at a site, including electricity and thermal energy;

"integrated system" means

(a) more than one building system, such as lights and air distribution, combined into a common design, or

(b) a system in which multiple subsystems of a building are combined into a single package, such as fire, security, clock, and HVAC;

"low emission system" means a system that provides heat energy at a carbon intensity that is significantly less than that of fossil fuels, and low enough so that when applied to modelled building energy use, the requirement of purchasing carbon offsets is minimal;

"major renovation" means any renovation to a City building that is worth at least 50% of the existing building’s replacement value and meets any of the following conditions:

(a) includes a significant modification to or replacement of an existing HVAC system;

(b) requires a new certificate of occupancy;

(c) involves the reconstruction of an existing building space that results in a change of use of the all or substantially all of a building;

"minor renovation" means a renovation to a City building that is not a major renovation;

"new building" means any structure

(a) used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy, and

(b) having a gross floor area of greater than 500 m²;

"net zero emission in operation" means achieving a zero balance in emissions from energy consumed to ensure and maintain regular building operations;

"occupancy" has the same meaning as in article 1.4.1.2 of the British Columbia Building Code, 2018.

Energy modeling requirement

5   (1) The City will conduct energy modeling before the building permit and occupancy permit stages of every applicable project in accordance with the BC Building Code following modeling procedures as required for code compliance.

(2) Energy modeling must consider minimizing the building energy load by accounting for building envelope and optimizing the building’s major energy end-use and systems such as heating, cooling, domestic hot water, fans, pumps, and lighting.

Net zero-emissions balance

6   (1) The City will follow a net zero-emissions balance approach to operational emissions.

(2) For the purposes of this section, net zero-emissions should be calculated using the following formula:

Energy load reduction

7   The City will reduce building energy loads by optimizing the major energy end-use systems as indicated by energy modeling performed in accordance with section 5.

Low-emission system installation

8   The City will install low emission systems to provide space hearing, conditioned ventilation air, domestic hot water and cooling services, and other major end uses.

Renewable energy and carbon offset allocation

9   (1) In lieu of purchasing carbon offsets to balance out emissions remaining after the measures required under sections 7 and 8, the City will allocate the estimated costs of carbon offsets to

(a) to the Climate Action Reserve Fund in accordance with the Climate Action Reserve Fund Management Policy, or

(b) investments in the City building for future greenhouse gas emission reduction initiatives.

(2) In determining the allocation of estimated costs of carbon offsets under subsection (1), the City will prioritize the allocation option that the General Manager, Engineering and Regional Utilities considers the likely to result in the greatest reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Metering

10   (1) The City will provide

(a) separate master metering for each energy utility and each building, and

(b) sub-metering of all major energy end-uses within each build.

(2) The energy sub-metering strategy used will be appropriate for the size and complexity of each building.

Comprehensive commissioning measures

11   The City will implement the following comprehensive commissioning measures for City buildings that incorporate complex HVAC systems or integrated systems:

(a) a comprehensive commissioning process following the ASHRAE 202 commissioning standard;

(b) retaining a commissioning provider as owner’s representative to act as both commissioning authority and commissioning agent to ensure the building systems are installed, tested, and operates as intended in the design;

(c) development and implementation of a training program for facility operations and maintenance staff informed by input from facilities and the commissioning provider.

Documentation

12   The Director of Environmental Services will obtain documentation of the energy modeling conducted under section 5 and the result of the net zero emissions balance equation under section 6 before obtaining a building permit and at occupancy.

Cooling strategies

13   Good practice cooling strategies will be prioritized for all occupied areas, including either

(a) mechanical cooling for all occupied areas, with consideration for opportunities for natural ventilation and free cooling in mixed-mode operation, or

(b) confirmation that interior dry bulb temperatures of occupied spaces will not exceed the 80% acceptability limits for naturally conditioned spaces, as outlined in section 5.3 of ASHRAE 55-2010 for more than 200 hours per year for any zone.

General Manager responsibilities

14   The General Manager, Engineering and Regional Utilities or their designate is responsible for the following:

(a) the review of the policy;

(b) incorporating required changes;

(c) assessment of the policy.

Minor updates

15   The Director of Environmental Services is delegated authority to approve minor updates to this policy that do not change the intent of the policy.

Capital project consultation

16   The Director responsible for planning of every capital project must consult with the Director of Environmental Services during the preliminary project planning phase to determine if it is subject to this policy and to ensure that the policy is applied as required.

Process and procedure implementation

17   The practices and requirements identified in this policy will be embedded in processes and procedures across the City.

Compliance evaluation and reporting

18   Compliance will the policy will be evaluated on an ongoing basis and reported to City Council as required.

Triennial policy review

19   This policy will be reviewed every 3 years by the Director of Environmental Services for the following purposes:

(a) consistency with the City's overall climate and sustainability objectives;

(b) effectiveness in enabling the City to move towards its Official Community Plan (OCP) goals.

Recommended amendments

20   The General Manager, Engineering and Regional Utilities or their designate will recommend amendments to this policy for inclusion of climate adaptation and resiliency measures as required.

Exclusions

21   Exceptions to this policy in relation to an applicable project may be approved at the discretion of the City Manager if

(a) the applicable project affects the City's overall climate and sustainability objectives as outlined in the City’s Official Community Plan,

(b) the applicable project is extremely ill-suited to achieving a specific requirement stated in this policy,

(c) completing a major renovation would result in emissions reductions if more than 50% with respect to their emission levels under normal operation, or

(d) the intended use or function of a City building would be impaired by the operation of this policy.

Related procedures, guidelines and publications

22   The Schedule Green Buildings Policy (GBP) Checklist provides a guide on how to implement this policy throughout project phases.