Why not just require an EnerGuide label or some other green building rating for every new home?
We are proposing to offer three paths to compliance: prescription, performance and third party certification (such as an EnerGuide label or Built Green). We’re taking this approach because not all builders have the knowledge and experience to build certified higher performance houses without detailed guidance. As well, not all builders may choose to undertake the additional time and expense to follow the building rating protocols. The vast majority of home builders in B.C. currently build to the prescriptive path. The prescriptive path provides less experienced builders the kind of detailed guidance they may need to build better performing building envelopes for typical house configurations. The performance path establishes specific targets for things like thermal resistance and airtightness and offers much more flexibility on how to achieve them. The third party certification path takes a similar approach. However, there is still additional time and expense involved in getting an actu
