Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code

BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code

The BC Energy Step Code is an optional compliance path in the BC Building Code that
local governments may use, if they wish, to incentivize or require a level of energy
efficiency in new construction that goes above and beyond the requirements of the BC
Building Code.
The performance approach establishes a desired outcome, and leaves it to the design and
building team to decide how to achieve it.
To comply with the BC Energy Step Code, builders must use energy software modelling
and on-site testing to demonstrate that both their design and the constructed building meet
the requirements of the standard. They may use any materials or construction methods to
do so.
The BC Energy Step Code consists of a series of specific measurable efficiency targets,
and groups them into "steps" that represent increasing levels of energy-efficiency
performance. By gradually adopting one or more steps, a local government can increase
the building performance requirements in its community. The regulation is designed as a
technical roadmap to help the province reach its target that all new buildings will attain a
net zero energy ready level of performance by 2032.
The BC Energy Step Code is voluntary and is intended to apply to the construction of new
buildings.
1. New Buildings
The BC Energy Step Code establishes a series of measurable energy-efficiency
requirements that builders must meet in communities that reference it in their building and
development bylaws. The regulation groups these performance targets into a series of
"steps" of increasing energy efficiency. Step 1 simply requires confirmation that new
buildings meet the existing energy-efficiency requirements of the existing BC Building
Code. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the scale, Step 5 for homes represents a home that
is net-zero energy ready. A Step 5 home is effectively the most energy-efficient home that
can be built today, roughly equivalent to the rigorous Passive house standard.
The BC Building Code separates all buildings into two basic categories – Part 9 and Part 3,
as follows:
• Part 9 buildings refer to houses and small buildings three stories or less, that have
a building area or "footprint" no more than 600 square metres. This category
includes single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes, small apartment buildings,
and small stores, offices, and industrial shops.
• Part 3 buildings are larger and more complex. They are four stories and taller, and
have a footprint greater than 600 square metres. This category includes larger
apartment buildings, condos, shopping malls, office buildings, hospitals, care
facilities, schools, churches, theatres, and restaurants.

HENRY CHANG PAGE 1 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

2. The Steps
For Part 9 buildings, there are five steps of the BC Energy Step Code; Part 3 buildings have
four steps, while commercial buildings have three. Each step represents a more stringent
set of energy-efficiency requirements. As communities climb the steps, they gradually
increase the level of energy efficiency in their new buildings. The BC Energy Step Code
applies to new construction only.
For small buildings, Steps 1 to 3 (collectively, the "Lower Steps") can be achieved using
construction techniques and products readily understood and available in today's market;
homes built to Steps 4 and 5 (the "Upper Steps") are more ambitious and may require more
training and incentives to achieve.
The regulation is performance-based, not prescriptive, in that it does not specify the
specific materials and strategies a builder must use. Instead, it sets measurable performance
targets that the proposed building must meet.

Fig. 1: The steps in BC Energy Step Code

3. Measuring Metrics
The BC Energy Step Code measures a building's energy performance via a variety of
metrics. The Building Envelope Metrics and the Equipment and Systems Metrics are
demonstrated through a whole-building performance simulation, while the Airtightness
Metric is demonstrated through an on-site blower door test of the building before
occupancy.

HENRY CHANG PAGE 2 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

(1) Building envelope metrics

• Thermal Energy Demand Intensity (TEDI): The amount of annual heating
energy needed to maintain a stable interior temperature, taking into account heat
loss through the envelope and passive gains (i.e., the amount of heat gained from
solar energy passing through the envelope, or from activities in the home such as
cooking and lighting, and that provided by body heat). It is calculated per unit of
area of the conditioned space over the course of a year, and expressed in kWh /
(m2·year).
(2) Equipment and systems metrics
• Percent Lower than EnerGuide Reference House: An EnerGuide reference
house establishes how much energy a home would use if it was built to base
building code standards. This metric identifies how much less energy, stated as a
percentage, the new home will require compared to the reference house.
• Mechanical Energy Use Intensity: The modelled amount of energy used by space
heating and cooling, ventilation, and domestic hot water systems, per unit of area,
over the course of a year, expressed in kWh/(m2·year).
• Total Energy Use Intensity: The modelled amount of total energy used by a
building, per unit of area, over the course of a year, expressed in kWh/(m2·year).
(3) Airtightness metrics
• Air Changes per Hour at a 50 Pa Pressure differential, as measured by a blower
door test.
• Air Leakage Rate: A measure of the rate that air leaks through the building
envelope per unit area of the building envelope, as recorded in L/(m2) at a 75 Pa
pressure differential.
4. Benefits of adoption
Buildings built to higher energy efficiency standard have been shown to provide multiple
co-benefits – to home and building owners and occupants, to industry, to the environment,
and to the community.
(1) For building owners and occupants
Owners and tenants often prefer high-performance buildings as they require less energy,
reducing utility bills. Occupants also prefer them because they better manage:
• Temperature, improving comfort.
• Fresh air throughout the building, improving health.
• Soundproofing, reducing exterior noise.

HENRY CHANG PAGE 3 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

(2) For industry

The BC Energy Step Code provides industry with a clear sense of where the province is
heading on energy efficiency, while giving builders a welcome level of consistency via
standardized performance metrics.
(3) For climate change mitigation
If a given community's new homes are likely to be heated with natural gas, the BC Energy
Step Code will reduce the amount of that fuel they need to burn to stay comfortable. A
well-insulated and well-sealed Step 3 home heated with natural gas will consume much
less of the fuel when compared with one built to the minimum code requirements. This will
result in fewer carbon emissions.

5. Passive House

A Step 5 home is effectively the most energy-efficient home that can be built today,
roughly equivalent to the rigorous Passive house standard.

Passive House buildings provide significantly improved comfort and indoor air quality, as
well as much lower heating bills. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and
rigorous design and construction, according to principles developed by the Passivhaus
Institut (PHI) in Germany, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance
process.
The Passive House standard can be applied to new build and retrofit buildings of all types,
providing a robust method to help the industry achieve the carbon reductions leading
towards Zero Carbon. Through improved fabric and services, Passive House can achieve
real energy demand reductions below the level proposed for building regulations.

The Passive house criteria for a central European climate:

• Space heating demand ≤ 15kWh/m2/yr (or space heating load ≤ 10W/m2)

• Space cooling demand ≤ 15kWh/m2/yr (or space cooling load ≤ 10W/m2)
• Primary energy demand ≤ 120kWh/m2/yr (including hot water, space heating &
cooling, fans, lighting, appliances)
• Airtightness n50 ≤ 0.6ac/hr

HENRY CHANG PAGE 4 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

6. EnerGuide Rating System

The EnerGuide Rating Service was developed by The Office of Energy Efficiency of
Natural Resources Canada to help Canadians improve the energy efficiency of their houses.

An EnerGuide rating is a standard measure of a home's energy performance. The home's

energy efficiency level is rated on a scale of 0 to 100. A rating of 0 represents a home with
major air leakage, no insulation and extremely high energy consumption. A rating of 100
represents a house that is airtight, well insulated, sufficiently ventilated and requires no
purchased energy.

EnerGuide is an energy performance rating and labelling program for homes (as well as
other energy-using products). The EnerGuide rating system does not explicitly collect or
track any of the metrics currently used in the Step Code framework; however, its expanded
reports do provide the necessary outputs needed to calculate Thermal Energy Demand
Intensity (TEDI), Peak Thermal Load (PTL), and Mechanical Energy Use Intensity
(MEUI).
Efforts are currently underway to allow the software to automatically produce a
performance path compliance report by connecting the metrics important to the Step Code
directly from EnerGuide files. Such an effort would assist in the harmonization between
the Step Code and the use of the EnerGuide system, and support consistency within the
industry.

Reference:
1. "The BC Energy Step Code". Building and Safety Standards Branch. Province of
British Columbia. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
2. "How the BC Energy Step Code Works". Building and Safety Standards Branch.
Province of British Columbia. Retrieved April 20, 2021..
3. "How the BC Energy Step Code Works". Building and Safety Standards Branch.
Province of British Columbia. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
4. https://www.passivehousecanada.com/

HENRY CHANG PAGE 5 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

HENRY CHANG PAGE 6 OF 7

Module 10 – BC Energy Step Code
BCIT Mechanical Engineering MSYS 4486 - Energy Management

HENRY CHANG PAGE 7 OF 7