Victoria City Council takes climate change seriously. So in 2023 we adopted and accelerated the Zero Carbon Step Code for new buildings.
Did the sky fall?
No.
Has the City been approving new housing?
Yes. Lots. We are leading, and well ahead of our provincial targets.
On April 6, 2023, Council unanimously adopted a timeline for zero carbon performance (Emissions Level 4) for all new buildings.
I believe we were the first city in the province to adopt BC’s Zero Carbon Step Code. And since then, many cities have followed suit. This earned Victoria the 2023 Climate and Energy Action Award along with our partners Saanich, Central Saanich and the Capital Regional District.
The majority of new buildings in Victoria were already using clean electric heating by 2023, instead of polluting fossil fuels. Now, new building proposals are all coming forward with electric heating.
And the best projects are using electric heat pumps, which are very energy efficient and cheap to operate, and also provide cooling in the summer – essential for climate adaptation in a world of dangerous heat domes.
All new buildings in BC will need to comply with the Zero Carbon Step Code by 2030.
Victoria requires compliance now.
Did this raise the cost of housing in Victoria? Maybe in some cases, by a rounding error – less than one percent to a little over two percent. And operating costs can be much lower.
This is not rocket science. Builders can already comply with the Zero Carbon Step Code.
All that’s required is for politicians to take climate change seriously.