Year-End Updates: BUILT GREEN® Portal & Canada Green Homes Clarity & 2017 Checklist Updates

I. BUILT GREEN® Portal & Canada Green Homes: Clarity

Over the years, Built Green Canada and Enervision have been inextricably linked. In the last few years, both organizations have seen significant growth, and effective January 1, we will be making a formal separation as we continue to evolve.

This means all Built Green administrative support services, currently performed by Enervision, will be delivered through the Built Green Canada office as part of our progression. As a leading Service Organization, Enervision will continue to focus their efforts on assisting builders navigate through the current building code changes and working with Energy Advisors to ensure the successful delivery of R-2000 and the EnerGuide Rating System.

The separation will provide greater clarity on the roles of these two organizations. As part of this, the BUILT GREEN® Portal and Canada Green Homes will become fully independent and no longer be connected.

BUILT GREEN® projects: these will be enrolled, processed, and completed on the BUILT GREEN® Portal. Single Family certification with Built Green Canada requires three documents: a completed checklist, a scan of the EnerGuide label, and a scan of the NRCan confirmation email. For requirements on Renovations or High Density please contact our office. Simple instructions on how to upload files and progress your BUILT GREEN® projects are posted on the portal, or you may contact our office for a copy.

EnerGuide Projects*: these will be enrolled, processed, and completed on Canada Green Homes. Simple instructions on how to progress your EnerGuide projects are posted on Canada Green Homes or you may contact Enervision for a copy.

* EnerGuide projects do not have to be processed through Canada Green Homes; rather this update is applicable to those using Enervision.

Your password: the log in information you've been using to access either the BUILT GREEN® Portal or Canada Green Homes will remain the same; however, if you update your password on one database, it will no longer be updated on the other as well.

Both Built Green Canada and Enervision will maintain a close working relationship and support each other’s ongoing efforts to progress sustainable building in the residential building sector.

For more information:

For BUILT GREEN® projects please contact Built Green Canada: info@builtgreencanada.ca, phone 780.485.0920 or toll-free 1.855.485.0920

For EnerGuide projects please contact Enervision: steve@enervision.ca, phone 780.701.1772 or toll-free 1.866.871.7563

II. Checklist Updates

Subsequent to industry input, alongside the Technical Standards Committee and the Board of Directors, we’ve made updates to the 2017 checklists. These changes also reflect individual checklist items’ impact on the project, as well as greater alignment between the Single Family, High Density, and Renovation programs.

Important Notes:

- A reminder that the 2016 Single Family and High Density Checklists may be used to enroll projects up to and including March 31, 2017.

For those using the 2016 Single Family Checklist, there are two options:

1. Use the original Single Family Checklist (using the existing EnerGuide / Hot2000 v10.51).

2. Use the Single Family Checklist ERS v15 (using the new EnerGuide v15 / Hot2000 v11).

** Any Single Family projects that are using ERS v15 and would prefer to use the 2016 Checklist must use the attached version.

** For MURB projects, the 2016 BUILT GREEN® Single Family Checklist will be accepted indefinitely as Hot2000 v11 for MURBs is under development.

- The 2017 Single Family and High Density Checklists may be used from January 1, 2017 on; however, the 2017 versions must be used for projects enrolled April 1, 2017.

- The 2017 Guides for Single Family and High Density will be available in January.

- As always, Built Green Canada welcomes input from industry, whether that be through a Request for Interpretation, which may be submitted here: request-for-interpretation-form or other recommendations.

1. Single Family 2017

a) Energy Modelling Changes:

Any home seeking BUILT GREEN® certification must first be modelled and tested in the EnerGuide Rating System (ERS). The introduction of ERS v15, minimum EnerGuide scores are now required for BUILT GREEN® certification.

The energy requirement for each certification level is based on the percent lower than reference house (% LTRH). In other words, the ERS v15 rating must meet the required percent lower than the corresponding ERS v15 reference house.

• Bronze certification: house rating meets the energy requirements of 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.
  

For a summary of the checklist item updates for Single Family projects please review here. We encourage you to take a few minutes to review changes to existing checklist items as well as new checklist items.

2. High Density 2017

For a summary of the checklist item updates for High Density projects please review here. We encourage you to take a few minutes to review changes to existing checklist items as well as new checklist items.

3. Renovations 2017

If you’re interested in the 2017 Renovation Checklist please contact the Built Green office.

As always, Built Green Canada welcomes input from industry, whether that be through a Request for Interpretation, which may be submitted here: request-for-interpretation-form or other recommendations.

We are aware the industry is in a time of transition with building code changes and the new EnerGuide rating system, and we’re doing our best to accommodate these with a priority to support and work with builders. Should you have any questions or require support please do let us know.