On September 10, nearly 100 REALTORS® joined industry-leading experts to learn about the future of energy efficiency and green home regulations first-hand at the PNE Prize home. 

The event, hosted in partnership between the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, BC Hydro, and the PNE, covered the implications of the BC Energy Step Code and future energy efficiency regulations for home buyers and Realtors. 

This included a virtual tour of the PNE Prize Home, a Net Zero Energy Ready Home, to show what these regulations will look like when manifested in a newly-constructed home.

We know green homes are the future, but did you know that by 2032 all new homes in the province, from condos to single family, will have to be up to 80 per cent more energy efficient than today? 

To help meet this ambitious target, the BC government is giving cities across our region guidance through a regulation called the BC Energy Step Code. 

This code is divided into five steps. The first step in the code represents the energy efficiency of the current BC building code. Each step after represents more efficient homes, culminating in step five which represents a Net Zero Energy Ready Home.

You may have come across the term Net Zero Energy Home, but what does it mean? And what technologies and innovations are behind this certification? 

In a nutshell, a Net Zero Energy Home produces as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis. To do this, these homes require state-of-the-art construction combined with technologies like solar panels. A Net Zero Energy Ready Home meets this construction standard but hasn’t been certified as Net Zero Energy.

This year’s PNE Prize Home is a Net Zero Energy Ready Home and is set to be a full-fledged Net Zero Energy Home once its installed at its final destination in Pemberton.

You can see an example of what this looks like in this tour of the PNE Prize Home. 

Here are some resources: 

• BC Energy Step Code case studies 
• BC Step Code materials study 
• Government-funded energy retrofit rebates for existing homes
• BC Hydro’s Reno Rebate Program 
• FortisBC BC Energy Step Code rebates for builders 
• BC Hydro’s guide to buying green homes 
• BC Hydro’s Solar Net Metering Program
• Find qualified energy efficient contractors 
• Home Performance Stakeholder Council