Finding A Registered Energy Advisor For Your BC Energy Step Code
An Energy Adivsor Can Help You Understand The BC Step Code.
An energy advisor can help you understand how these guidelines work and which changes you may need to make in your home to meet them.
Partnering with a Registered Energy Advisor is an ideal choice to ensure you meet all the requirements to complete the BC Energy Step Code. They can provide guidance and support while helping you get started.
Adhering to the British Columbia Energy Step Code is a must for all homeowners in BC. This code has been developed to ensure homes are insulated correctly, have the optimal ventilation rates and provide adequate lighting. Following this code helps keep you and your family safe from any potential health risks associated with improper insulation and lighting.
What is the BC Energy Step Code?
Performance-tested energy-efficiency standards for new buildings and major renovations are specified in the BC Energy Step Code, which is part of the BC Building Code. The performance approach offers the house constructor and homeowner choices on how to reach a specific goal. An Energy Advisor ensures that the design and building structure meet the BC Energy Step Code standards by testing your house at the beginning, middle and end of the building phase.
What is an Energy Advisor?
An Energy Advisor advises on more efficient options, reviews building progress, offers mid-construction and final testing, and helps with obtaining any incentives that may be available.
For more information on understanding the BC Energy Step Code, check out our latest article, Understanding the BC Energy Step Code.
Find an Energy Advisor
An Energy Advisor will need to model energy usage for new home construction and substantial rehabilitation of existing homes. An Energy Advisor who may conduct both energy modelling and mid-construction blower door testing is recommended by the CVRD Building Inspection division.
For more complex projects, bringing on an energy advisor may start at the design phase but typically begins with providing a pre-construction compliance report based on pre-permit drawings. The advisor will develop an energy model based on the concepts and proposed mechanical equipment and systems to ensure that the suggested design meets the BC Energy Step Code. The builder must submit a copy of the pre-construction compliance report to the relevant authority once it is verified. Shoreline Building Performance promises a 72-hour turnaround on pre-construction compliance reports once the project is confirmed, assuming no revisions are needed.
We recommend having a blower door test performed mid-construction, but it is not required. The test will identify any significant deficiencies to be corrected before installing the drywall, giving you peace of mind that the required air tightness for the structure will be met.
Having an energy advisor visit the project site to verify that the proposed drawings match the final structure, compliance is not affected, and that any required modifications are accounted for in the energy model is the last step of the process. The final blower door test will be completed and the data will be entered into the energy model. The energy model will be updated, and an as-built report of compliance, along with an Energuide label will be issued for the home once the final data has been collected.
Energy Advisors are the right hand of the builders, designers, and architects throughout nearly every step of the process. They help ensure that the home has the correct energy usage levels recommended to give the occupants comfort in addition to helping the environment. Shoreline Building Performance has a robust and experienced team of Certified Energy Advisors ready and willing to help any building project decrease the footprint of greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia.
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