Step Codes and New Buildings


Design a climate-friendly home

Learn about BC Building Step Codes and bring a sustainable design to life

The BC Energy Step Code and Zero Carbon Step Code are provincial building standards that require new construction to meet increasingly higher energy efficiency and carbon performance targets.

Try out an online game to help you learn how homes are built to meet the Step Code requirements. Explore different technologies by clicking and dragging the digital stickers into their correct spots. Customize your house to make it energy-efficient, low-carbon and comfortable.

Play the game

This game is inspired by real homes built to the BC Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes right here in Richmond. Since becoming the first municipality in the province to adopt the Step Code in 2018, more than 1,200 homes have been built to these standards. Step Code houses use 40 to 60% less energy and produce 70 to 90% less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, all while providing a more comfortable and healthy home environment.

How do Builders meet the Step Code?

They choose from a combination of climate-friendly technologies, such as:
  • Heat pumps for space heating and cooling
  • Electric or heat pump water heaters
  • Triple-pane windows
  • Better wall, roof and floor insulation
  • Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) for fresh indoor air

These upgrades make buildings better for everyone who lives and works in them—and they are better for the planet too.

These new homes are designed to be:
  • Comfortable – with better heating and cooling, fewer drafts and less stuffiness
  • Healthy – with improved air quality and ventilation
  • Energy-efficient – using less energy and lowering your bills
  • Low-carbon – producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions

Learn more:

BC Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes

BCEnergyStepCode2The BC Energy Step Code is a provincial standard enacted in April 2017 that provides an incremental and consistent approach to achieving more energy-efficient buildings that go beyond the requirements of the base BC Building Code. This new standard is a vital measure to enable BC to meet the Provincial goal to construct net-zero energy ready buildings by 2032. It does so by establishing a series of measurable, performance-based energy-efficiency requirements for construction that communities may choose to adopt when ready. The BC Energy Step Code groups these energy-efficiency requirements into a series of “steps.” Visit the Energy Step Code website to learn more.

In June 2018, City Council adopted BC Energy Step Code requirements into the Richmond's Building Regulation Bylaw.

In October 2023, City Council adopted the Zero Carbon Step Code requirements into the Richmond's Building Regulation Bylaw.

The City has published four Bulletins to help applicants understand the City's BC Energy Step Code requirements:

Learn more about the City’s Energy and Zero Carbon Step Code requirements by visiting the Better Buildings page in the Building Approvals section.

 

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