A tale of four cities: Building Benchmark BC pilot project kicks off
January 21, 2020 | By Megan Hoegler
Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver are engaged in a pilot project that tracks and discloses the energy emissions of participating commercial buildings as of Jan. 21
Four cities in the Greater Vancouver Area have kicked off the Building Benchmark BC pilot project.
The cities of Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver are engaged in the pilot, which is designed to help building owners and managers easily “benchmark” and disclose the energy and emissions of their properties.
Participants will receive detailed energy and carbon performance data and a clear picture of how their building’s performance stacks up on carbon emissions relative to similar buildings. This information will help them make more informed decisions on capital investments and upgrades.
Building Benchmark BC pilot project will help all of the above parties identify areas and building types that will need extra support from energy efficiency rebates.
“Within the past year we’ve seen unprecedented support for climate action; dozens of cities have declared climate emergencies,” David Ramslie, VP of sustainability for Concert Properties, one of the project participants, said in a release. “As a result, building owners and managers are paying attention to energy and emissions. The companies that choose to benchmark and disclose their energy and emissions at BuildingBenchmarkBC.ca will not only understand where they rank relative to others, they’ll be contributing to a community of practice and research that could help to transform the whole building industry,”
The pilot was developed by OPEN Green Building Society, which convened a range of stakeholders to help, and was funded by Natural Resources Canada and BC Hydro.
