This step follows in the path ofVancouver’s Greenest City 2020 initiative, which began in 2009, with the Greenest City Action Team masterminded & co-chaired by Gregor Robertson, at that time Mayor of Vancouver, and David R. Boyd, Environmental lawyer and author of "Sustainability within a Generation".
这组BC省的当地专家研究了世界各地领先的绿色城市的最佳实践，并制定了目标和目标，以使温哥华在2020年成为世界上最绿色的城市。该作品发表在《2020温哥华:一个明亮的绿色未来》一书中，并在随后的行动计划中，确保不列颠哥伦比亚省的节能住宅运动正在进行中。
This is not the first time the province has led the way in environmental legislation; in 2008 they attracted international attention when they introduced North America’s first revenue-neutral carbon tax.
The latest initiative is theBC Energy Step Code, which gives communities the power to mandate more energy efficient building standards. Cities and towns now have the clout to raise the bottom rung of their regional building codes and enforce more energy-efficient new home construction and renovation standards.
According to Luke Dolan, owner of Capital Home Energy and the B.C. director of the Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors, “We’re seeing a real surge in exceptionally energy-efficient buildings and stable, well-paying jobs for people to manufacture, install, and service the materials and components that go into them”.
Builders will have the opportunity to work with energy advisors to ensure their projects are financially viable and meet the requirements of the BC Energy Step Code.
Dolan went on to say, “As more B.C. communities start requiring higher levels of energy efficiency in new construction, we’re expecting to see many more energy advisors, and other positions for people who have the skills to manufacture or install building products and technologies or are willing to learn them".
“With the BC Energy Step Code, British Columbia has set a new national bar for action on new-building energy efficiency,” says Corey Diamond, executive director of Efficiency Canada. “The province has proven out an innovative new model for transforming communities for a low-carbon future, and other provinces and territories can confidently follow in its footsteps.”
24 of British Columbia's 162 local governments have already adopted the regulation, which collectively account for more than 70 percent of new residential construction in the province. The province has also set a target date of 2032 when all new buildings must adhere to an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency performance.
According to a recentstudy by the Vancouver Economic Commission, these cities and towns are helping to steer what amounts to being a $3.3 billion market for energy-efficient building products and services. The study also concludes that this policy will help create over 900 new manufacturing jobs and 770 installation jobs.
Additionally, blower door tests are becoming part of many State and Provincial mandatory building codes - the new BC Energy Step Code is only one example -find out more about how to do a Blower Door Test.
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