The city of Maple Ridge is moving ahead with new building regulations that will cut the amount of natural gas and fossil fuels burned in houses, townhouses, and apartments.
The city gave three readings to bylaw amendments that will bring in the zero carbon step code (ZCSC) for new buildings. It will see space heating and hot water provided with zero carbon by July 2025, with cooking to go zero carbon by September of 2026.
The step code is opt-in legislation through the B.C. Building Code that was introduced by the province in 2023, explained the city's climate change and resiliency advisor Brian Montgomery at the Feb. 11 meeting of council. A call to implement the code came out of the Mayor's Taskforce on Climate Action, as one of the group's five key priorities. Another priority is to develop a residential retrofit program.
Kirk Grayson, the president of the Maple Ridge Climate Hub, said her group is happy to see council taking this action.
"It's so important, as a vital first step," she said. "We have to stop using fossil fuels for heating our homes, and heating our water."
She said residential buildings are a "huge contributor" to greenhouse gas emissions, so once the city addresses new housing, it should turn to retrofits of existing housing stock.
"It's an investment in the long term – for the community and for the planet," added Grayson.
In his presentation, Montgomery said the ZCSC can have a significant impact on decarbonization, because 35 per cent of Maple Ridge emissions are from buildings, and 29 per cent of building emissions are from residential homes.
Montgomery noted future low-carbon buildings will have more heat pumps, and better preparation for heat waves – which are expected to be more frequent and intense.
As a result of the 2021 heat dome that resulted in 619 heat-related deaths, the province now requires cooling facilities be capable of maintaining an indoor air temperature of not more than 26C in at least one living space.
Council is getting ahead of provincial regulations. The B.C. government will require all new buildings in B.C. be zero carbon by 2030.
The city engaged with BC Hydro to confirm there is sufficient availability of electricity.
The city also looked at finances, and found increased construction costs may rise up to nine per cent. But the potential for annual energy savings is up to $358 per year, depending on housing types.
"There's many benefits, including greenhouse gas reductions, increased energy efficiency, improved indoor air quality, and the ability to meet mandatory cooling requirements already put in place in response to extreme high temperatures," said Coun. Sunny Schiller. "These changes are about building safe and healthy housing, designed to respond to a changing climate that is producing more frequent and intense extremes in weather."
"This is an important and impactful move," Schiller continued.
"It won't solve global climate change. This doesn't get us all the way to our own targets for reduced greenhouse gas emissions. But I believe strongly that climate changes requires all of us to learn about what is happening, and to figure out what role we can play in being part of the solution."
Coun. Korleen Carreras said she was grateful for letters of support.
"We actually got nothing but letters of support this time, on this one," she said.
Nearby cities including Coquitlam, Burnaby, Richmond, Port Moody and others are also moving toward zero carbon housing.
City staff will conduct community feedback on the changes, and bring the matter back to council for final approval at a future meeting.
