City of Vancouver GHG Regulations for Large Buildings

In 2021, the City of Vancouver commissioned a team led by Introba to advise them on setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations for existing buildings, beginning with large commercial office and retail sectors.

In Phase 1 of this project, our joint team classified Vancouver's buildings by major use archetype and emissions sub-archetype. We quantified and characterized the greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) reduction potential of each sub-archetype using energy modeling, at the same time conducting cost analyses of the packages of measures required for each sub-archetype, and creating a city-wide GHG emissions model. This phase was completed in Q1, 2022.

Phase 2 defined and modeled regulatory options, including carbon pollution limits, performance, and prescriptive regulatory options, and made recommendations on the design of a potential carbon credit system for district energy systems in Vancouver.

We helped facilitate key stakeholder engagement to refine the regulatory options before the team's report went to the City Council. Council approved the report in 2022. This work has expanded into a third phase that is designed to explore potential regulatory options for smaller commercial and both large and small multi-family archetypes, both in Vancouver and throughout Metro Vancouver.

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