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Some of the more common programs in Canada are the Energy Star, R-2000 and Energuide rating systems. These programs largely address energy usage and efficiency of the buildings.
| Passive House |
| Another building standard that is quite common in Vancouver. The head office of the non-profit association is located in Victoria, and they advocate for the use of high-performance building standards as a means of forwarding sustainable development. |
| LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) |
| Certified green buildings are rated on a points system whereby sustainable features like renewable energy systems and efficient water fixtures improve the rating of the building. LEED encourages a holistic view to green building and requires sustainable features to be identified during the design phase, then carried out throughout construction and operation of the building. |
| Living Building Challenge |
| A green building certification program offered by the International Living Future Institute. They believe that the ideal built environment should operate as cleanly and efficiently as a flow. |
| BOMA Best |
| An environmental assessment and certification program for existing buildings. The program is administered through the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada and recognizes excellence in energy and environmental management and performance in commercial real estate. |
| Built Green Canada |
| A voluntary program that promotes green building practices to reduce the impact a building has on the environment. If focuses on several areas, including energy efficiency, indoor air quality, materials and methods, ventilation, and water and water management. |
| Net Zero Home Labeling Program |
| Offered by the Canadian Home Builders Association is a relatively new program new program that offers a clearly defined and rigorous two-tiered technical requirement that can be used to identify net-zero and net-zero ready homes. The program also offers net-zero training for CHBA members who wish to be a part of the program. |
| Happy City |
| An organization that takes lessons from psychology and public health to design happiness into neighbourhoods and cities. Their work has close ties to social sustainability and is an underrated, but essential aspect of sustainable development. |
Canadian green builders have a few options to choose from when selecting a green building certification or rating system. Programs have been created to fit certain niches, such as existing or new buildings, commercial or residential buildings and comprehensive or specific assessments.
The following is a complete list of the different green building certification/rating systems operating in Canada, listed alphabetically.
| BOMA Best |
| Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada have developed BOMA Best (Building Environmental Standards) to assess energy and environmental performance for existing buildings (offices, shopping centres, open air retail plazas, light industrial buildings and multi-unit buildings), using the Green Globes environmental performance and management assessment platform. BOMA Best assess environmental performance and management over the following ten area: energy, water, air, comfort, health and wellness, custodial, purchasing, water, site and stakeholder engagement. |
| BREEAM |
| BREEAM is a widely recognized environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings. This international system measures performance against established benchmarks over a number of categories, such energy, water, health and well-being, pollution, transport, materials, water, land use, innovation and management processes. |
| BuiltGreen |
| Built Green Canada is a national certification program focused on residential building. This includes single-family homes and high density building as well as renovations. A built-communities program is in its pilot phase. In their assessments, Built Green accounts for: energy and envelope, materials and methods, indoor air quality, ventilation, waster management, water conservation, and building practices. |
| EnerGuide |
| This straightforward 0 to 100 rating system, backed by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), measures a home's energy performance only, so it's specifically for users wanting to focus on this particular aspect of a home's construction, or for those considering energy performance in their renovation and upgrade projects. EnerGuide homes have had their plans evaluated by a certified energy advisor. EnerGuide evaluations provide homeowners with "a government-backed energy efficiency rating and label" for their homes. |
| Energy Star for New Homes |
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Energy Star for New Homes is also backed by NRCan. The label ensures homes are performances tested, third-party verified and government backed. Energy Star homes' energy efficiency improvements are mostly hidden - better insulation, high-performance windows, tighter air sealing - but very effective at improving home performance.
Energy Star qualified homes are built to be 20% more energy efficient (in terms of space and water heating) compared to one built to local building codes. Builders are required to meet minimum efficiency standards, but may then choose two "paths" certification, both of which allow them flexibility in terms of energy upgrades.
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| Green Globes |
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This assessment and rating system is administered by GB Initiative Canada. It covers new construction as well as renovation projects, and is used on a wide variety of commercial and public building types.
Green Globes is an online, interactive tool with automated reporting that significantly reduces the time and cost of submissions. This is an in-house self-assessment tool, wherein users, in consult with their project managers and design teams, submit answers about construction choices through an online questionnaire. The project is awarded points, but the system also offers practical guidance and strategies. The project input can be changes as often as desired before verification.
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Green Key Eco-Rating Program
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| A program specifically for hotels and other lodging facilities, the Green Key Eco-Rating Program is recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. It provides envrionmental audits and recommendations for decreasing emissions, waste and energy use. |
| LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) |
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An internationally recognized third-party certification program for buildings and homes. It's administered in Canada by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). LEED adopts a holistic approach to sustainability, accounting for the following five areas: location and transportation, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Ratings of certified, silver, gold or platinum are awarded according to a comprehensive 100-point system. LEED offers a few different rating systems, each of which includes requirements as well as optional credits that can be used towards certification. LEED-certified buildings and homes result in healthier environments, lower operating costs and a reduced impact on the environment.
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Living Building Challenge
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Living Building Challenge is equal parts philosophy, advocacy platform and certification program. The intent is to define priorities not just on a technical level, but as a set of core values to direct the building industry towards truly understanding how to solve problems rather than just shifting them. This performance-based standard promotes regional solutions that respond to different variables rather than being a checklist of best practices. The challenge covers seven areas: place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity and beauty.
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Net Zero Home Labelling Program
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A Canadian Home Builders' Association initiative, the Net Zero Labelling Program both sets out technical requirements for and recognized 2 tiers of homes (new or retrofitted, including low-rise Multi-Unit Residential Buildings (MURBs) that reach stringent energy performance standards.
The second-tier label, Net Zero Ready, is applied to homes that have energy performance levels between 50 and 80% better than homes built to the applicable standard building code. The first tier of labels, Net Zero, is reserves for homes that are 100% more energy efficient than ones built to applicable code. Homes produce as much energy as they consume and feature filtered fresh air systems and water-saving technology.
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Novoclimat
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This initiative of Transition énergétique Québec is a program for new buildings to improve energy efficiency. Single-family homes, semi-detached and row housing, small multi-unit buildings and large multi-unit buildings are eligible.
It includes training and certification of contractors and building specialists as well as the certification of homes that meet the required standards. Financial assistance is also available under this program. Homes built according to this standard realize improved energy performance of a minimum of 20 per cent compared to those built to local codes.
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Passive House
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This certification system focuses on optimizing a home or building’s envelope to maintain heat through: super-insulation, air tightness, high performance windows, efficient heat recovery ventilation and by minimizing thermal bridges.
With this focus on optimizing building envelope, Passive House has a high standard in terms of lowering heating energy consumption: Passive House buildings “consume up to 90 percent less heating and cooling energy than conventional buildings.” It’s a good choice for builders targeting passive design and wanting strong heating energy efficiency.
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Passive Solar Index
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The Passive Solar Index helps new builds and renovation projects optimize their building envelopes to maximize energy performance without having to meet stringent Passive House criteria. Buildings that achieve energy consumption levels of less than 50 kWh per square meter (whether the building is new or existing) receives recognition. That number represents a 50% reduction in energy use compared to the national building code.
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R-2000
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This is another standard administered by NRCan. R-2000 measures energy efficiency, indoor air tightness quality and environmental responsibility in home construction, promising energy savings, reduced environmental impact, improved home health and comfort.
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SITES Rating System
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This certification from the Sustainable SITES Initiative focuses on sustainable land and water use and evaluates the building site rather than the building or major renovation project. It works on a points system, where GCBI (Green Business Certification Inc.) measures projects against performance criteria and awards points that will determine the project’s level of certification.
Performance criteria include air quality, wildlife habitat, energy consumption, water use and human health. Applications can be submitted either in full or as a split review, where applications are submitted and reviewed at the end of the design phase and at the end of building.
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TRUE Zero Waste
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A GBCI program focusing on waste output, this certification is about changing values as well as practices. It’s geared towards existing public buildings and encourages owners and management teams to adopt zero waste cultures.
Facilities work towards certification by meeting program requirements and earning points. Program requirements include diverting a minimum of 90% of solid, non-hazardous wastes from landfills for a period of 12 consecutive months. Points categories include zero-waste purchasing, composting, reuse, leadership, innovation and many more.
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Zero Carbon Building Standard
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This Canada Green Building Council Standard evaluates new and existing buildings by carbon emissions, with the goal of buildings reaching a zero carbon balance. Homes and small multi-family residential buildings are not eligible.
New builds can earn Zero Carbon Building – Design certification by meeting thresholds for factors including onsite renewable energy, energy efficiency and thermal energy demand performance. Energy consumption and emissions from structural materials must also be assessed.
Existing buildings can earn Zero Carbon Building – Performance certification after successfully meeting requirements for energy use and greenhouse gas emissions over a 12-month period. Continued certification depends on annual performance reviews.
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Zero Energy Certification
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The International Living Future Institute’s (ILFI) Zero Energy Building (ZEB) Certification™ program recognizes buildings whose energy needs are met entirely through on-site renewable energy. The program works by assessing the building’s energy performance itself. Independent, third-party audits measure a building’s performance data over 12 consecutive months. ILFI works with several organizations that offer subsidies and rebates for renewable energy.
Projects can obtain a Reveal label that’s posted on the website and that can be mounted on the building itself. The label verifies and states the project’s energy use intensity, zero energy performance index and reduction in energy use (when compared to baseline). There are no minimum requirements for energy efficiency – the label simply gives the building’s energy performance data according to the above metrics.
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Zero Tool
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An Architecture 2030 project, the Zero Tool is a way to measure energy use intensity (EUI). It uses data from Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS 2003) to allow builders to compare their EUI baselines and targets with similar buildings.
The tool is also a knowledge-sharing program that gives builders information about how other buildings achieved their EUIs. Builders input information about their project and the Zero Tool assigns the building a Zero Score out of 100, with a score of 100 representing the typical energy performance of buildings from the 2003 CBECS and a score of zero representing a building that has achieved net zero carbon.
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