2016 BUILT GREEN® Single Family Checklist with ERS v.15

Further to our previous communications, we want to provide an update on the new EnerGuide Rating System v.15, as it pertains to BUILT GREEN® Single Family home certification. As previously communicated, Built Green Canada is updating our requirements to reflect the needs of industry. Our timelines are based on industry consultation and intended to support those set out by Natural Resources Canada and the new building code.

With this said, based on recent feedback from industry and discussion with NRCan, we will be extending the transition period through March 31, 2017.

This means that as of April 1, 2017 only HOT2000 v.11 and the ERS v.15 (GJ/year) will be used for certification with Built Green Canada. Until March 31, 2017, whether using Hot2000 v.10.51 or ideally v.11, our interest is in the energy requirements of the reference house as defined by 9.36.5 building code. Our certification requirements for these are detailed in our original email below.

For those using ERS v.15, the energy requirement for each BUILT GREEN® certification level is based on the percent lower than reference house (% LTRH). In other words, the ERS v.15 rating must meet the required percent lower than the corresponding ERS v.15 reference house.

Note: The % LTRH lower than reference house marks a change in the language we were previously using—percentage improvement—as it is a convenient metric that can clearly communicate to all interested parties, and it aligns with other key stakeholders. For the purposes of public communications the % LTRH targets can be described as "X percent better than the national building code".  And more specifically, "X percent better than the energy performance required by the national building code".

• Bronze certification: house rating meets the energy requirements of the 9.36 reference house and earns 25 points.
• Silver certification: house rating is 10% lower than reference house and earns 30 points.
• Gold certification: house rating is 20% lower than reference house and earns 35 points.
• Platinum certification: house rating is 30% lower than reference house and earns 40 points.

The 2016 Single Family checklist for ERS v.15 includes space to input the ERS v.15 “As Built” house rating and the ERS v.15 “Reference House” rating and from there, the checklist will automatically calculate the percentage lower than reference house.

Important Note: Your % LTRH target for BUILT GREEN® certification will be slightly different from what would be calculated using the figures shown on the ERS label because Built Green (along with many other programs) removes the standardized ERS electric baseloads from both the "As Built" house rating and the "Reference House" rating when making the % LTRH calculation. This is to ensure that the home's energy improvements are not affected by the electric baseloads, which are constant through all EnerGuide-rated homes and cannot be improved upon in the EnerGuide model.

It should also be noted that based on ongoing energy modelling work, the platinum requirements have been updated from 25% to 30%.

In the upcoming months it is our intention to maintain close contact with industry and Natural Resources Canada to ensure industry is on track with these timelines.

To wrap up, here is what you need to know about the ERS versions and BUILT GREEN® home certification:

• For the EnerGuide portion of BUILT GREEN® Single Family certification, you may use either the new or old EnerGuide system up until March 31, 2017—we have 2016 checklists for both ERS versions (identical checklists, other than ERS version).
• The 2017 BUILT GREEN® Single Family Checklist will be coming out shortly—it uses ERS v.15 only and can be used January 1, 2017 onwards. Note: minimal updates have been made to the 2017 checklist from the 2016 checklist.

Should you be interested in learning more, please do let us know.