Energy Rating and Labelling System

If you are retrofitting an existing building or designing a new building, you are probably interested to know the energy performance of your property compared with similar structures. Product labels such as EnerGuide and ENERGY STAR^® influence consumer choice. There is a growing interest in building energy improvements, green building ratings and environmental labelling, and these concepts point to the need for an energy-specific label for buildings.

Request for Proposals (RFP)

Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) has posted a Request for Proposals from qualified bidders to undertake labelling pilot projects across Canada. Pilot projects would test regional administrative and data collection approaches to voluntary energy labelling of commercial and institutional buildings. The deadline for submission is November 16, 2007.

Existing Tools

There are a number of tools and resources currently available. The OEE encourages new buildings to be at least 25 percent more efficient than the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB), has published benchmarking figures on various types of existing buildings and has produced a number of statistical publications, reports and surveys on various building types. The OEE also works closely with environmental rating programs such as LEED^® Canada for New Construction and Major Renovations from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the Green Globes Environmental Assessments for Buildings.

Proposed System

To date, there is still no single system for evaluating a quantifiable level of energy efficiency in Canada that can be used for comparisons with both existing and new buildings. For this reason, the OEE is currently consulting with experts and stakeholders to establish a common energy rating and labelling tool for buildings in Canada. For example, the OEE hosted an experts meeting in March 2006, followed in December by a one-day building labelling forum in Toronto. We have reached consensus on a number of key points, including the following:

• The development of such an energy-specific label or rating for buildings has attracted interest and support from a wide cross-section of stakeholders.
• The label should serve as a “benchmarking” tool.
• Participants have suggested a graphical system inspired EnerGuide.
• The label should be simple, clear and inexpensive to obtain and administer.
• The label's credibility would be enhanced through an expiry date.

For more information, to participate in future consultations or to request PowerPoint presentations from the first consultation meetings, please contact us.

Next: 2006 Building labelling forum