MARCH 2007 | HPAC 69

ENERGY STANDARDSBY KEN COOPER

HOW CANADIAN HOMES MEASURE UPThe energy efficiency of new housing has improved significantly over the years.

Some housing surveys have shown that recently built housing is, on average, 13 per cent

better in overall energy efficiency (mainly space heating and hot water usage)

than the housing built about 15 years ago. Improvements to the energy efficiency requirements in building codes have been key to the overall re­duction of energy use associated with housing and also to the reduction in the generation of greenhouse gases.

A survey of residential energy codes across Canada found that explicit re­quirements for energy efficiency exist only in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. The rest of the country uses the National Building Code (NBC), which has no signifi­cant energy­related requirements.

RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

Air­tightness is less regulated by the building codes. Although the build­ing code has air and vapour barrier requirements, the overall air­tight­ness is not tested. Manitoba requires an NLA (normalized leakage area – a measure of air­tightness) of 2.0 cm2/m2

Heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system use is predominant in the Atlantic provinces, where about 93 per cent of houses have HRV sys­tems installed. On the other hand, in British Columbia barely two per cent of new houses have a dedicated heat recovery system.

For the provinces in which natu­ral gas is the primary space heating fuel (Ontario and west), either di­rect­vent (Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) or condensing furnaces (Ontario and Manitoba) constitute the majority of installed systems. Condensing gas furnaces are installed in 94 per cent of new On­tario houses. In Alberta that number drops to five per cent. In Quebec and the Maritimes, baseboard electric is the dominant heating system. In the Territories, flame retention head oil systems predominate.

EGH survey values for air­tight­ness range from 1.9 ac/h at 50 Pa depressurization for Manitoba (Sas­katchewan and Quebec are close behind), to 3.4 ac/h in Ontario and the Maritimes, to 4.3 ac/h for British Columbia and the Territories (Alber­ta was slightly better).

Insulation within walls is typical­ly 2x6 R­20 or equivalent (Ontario typically uses EPS clad 2x4 walls), except in British Cclumbia’s Lower Mainland where R­14 2x4 walls pre­dominate in gas heated houses. Attics are typically R­40, except in Ontario and Quebec where the minimum re­quirement is slightly less. Basements are often insulated to R­12, although not always for the full height. On­tario requires only R­8 for the first two feet below grade, although full height insulation is being introduced in coming code changes.

The NBC requires double glazed windows (NBC Sec. 9.6.6.6. and

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 70

coming Up…Ontario recently introduced substantial changes to the Ontario Build-ing Code. The insulation requirements are being phased in. The values shown in the Table 1 are those effective December 31, 2008. In addition to building envelope insulation levels, the Ontario code will require that natural gas and propane fired furnaces be at least 90 per cent efficient (AFUE).

The Ontario Building Code also requires that as of January 1, 2012, all new houses will have to be built to a standard that would at least meet an EnerGuide 80 rating.

In British Columbia the building code insulation standards are not be-ing changed at this time, although provincial energy efficiency regula-tions have been changed. Gas and propane fireplaces have to be tested and labelled effective January 1, 2007. Gas and propane furnaces will have to be condensing gas furnaces (90 per cent AFUE) by January 1, 2008. Windows will have to have a USI value less than 2.0 W/m2K by January 1, 2009. [U = 1/R, so this is equivalent to an R-value of 2.85].

envelope area or less – a level that is met by more than 85 per cent of new houses surveyed.

To put the survey data in perspec­tive, the study evaluated more than 4,300 new single­detached houses built between 2000 and 2005 across Canada, using data from the Ener­Guide for Houses (EGH) database. House area, volume, air­tightness and construction characteristics were reviewed to create a set of archetypes for eight geographic areas, accord­ing to the availability of data. These EnerGuide walk­through evalua­tions provided some interesting in­sights into tract­built housing being built today.

In Quebec and the Maritimes about 90 per cent of new houses comply with NBC ventilation sys­tem requirements, while compliance in the rest of Canada is much less (typically 20 to 60 per cent).

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70 HPAC | MARCH 2007

ENERGY STANDARDSc o n t i n u e d f r o m P A G e 6 9

9.6.7.2). Electrically heated houses in Ontario require energy ratings (ERs) of 0 and -13 for fixed and oper-able windows respectively. Quebec requires a minimum RSI of 0.35, which is slightly higher than a stan-dard vinyl framed slider.

In British Columbia the building code insulation standards are not be-ing changed at this time, although provincial energy efficiency regula-tions have been changed. Effective January 1, 2007, gas and propane fire-places have to be tested and labelled.

Anecdotal surveys indicate that high performance windows (typically double glazed, low E coated, Argon filled) are commonly used in Sas-katchewan, Manitoba, the Maritimes and Territories and are beginning to make inroads in the rest of Canada.

than 83 per cent as much total en-ergy as the code minimum house. If R2000 levels of energy efficiency were applied (equivalent to an EnerGuide 80 rating), the space heating energy use would be reduced by about 20 per cent in Quebec (zone 2) to 55 per cent in British Columbia (zone A).

Based on surveys of more than 800 new conventional and recently built R2000 houses, implementing a construction standard equivalent to EnerGuide 80 would decrease the total average energy consumption by about 36 per cent.

n Ken Cooper, of SAR engineering ltd., is a building analyst, working primari-ly in the fields of residential monitoring and simulation. This report originally appeared in the September 2006 issue of Solplan Review. For more informa-tion e-mail solplan@shaw.ca.

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wwTABLE 1 ENVELOPE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (nominal unless stated otherwise)

TABLE 2 VENTILATION SYSTEMS IN NEw HOUSES

CeilingAttic

R-value

JoistR-value

MainWalls

R-value

ExposedFloors

R-value

WindowsR-value or type

ER***Fixed/Oper.

BasementWalls

R-value

Depth B.G.

ft

CrawlspaceWalls

R-value

Slab On Grade Air-tightness

Heated Unheated ac/h50PaNLA

cm/m2Zone R-value Area R-value AreaBC <=3500DD gas 40 28 14 28 double 12 2 14 12 full 10 2 ft vapour & air barrier

electric/oil 40 28 20 28 double 12 2 20 12 full 10 2 ft systems (no tested

requirement)<4500DD all 40 28 20 28 double 12 2 20 12 full 10 2 ft

>=4500DD all 44 28 22 28 double 12 2 20 12 full 12 2 ftAB A National Building Code of Canada*

B National Building Code of Canada*SK National Building Code of Canada*MB <53˚ Lat. gas 40 28 20 32 12 2 5 full 5 3.3 ft 2.0

electric/oil 40 28 20 32 20 2 5 full 5 3.3 ft 2.0>=53˚ Lat all 50 28 26 32 24 2 5 full 5 3.3 ft 2.0

ON 1 gas/oil 40 28 20 25 2.84 12 2 10 2 ft 8 2 ft(<5000 DD) electric 50 28 30 25 2.84 0/-13 20 2 10 2 ft 8 2 ft

2 gas/oil 40 28 20 25 2.84 12 2 10 2 ft 8 2 ft(>=5000 DD) electric 50 28 30 25 2.84 0/-13 20 2 10 2 ft 8 2 ft

QC A all** 30 30 19 27 2.84 12 full height 12 B all** 32 32 20 27 2.84 12 full height 12 C all** 34 34 22 27 2.84 12 full height 12D all** 36 36 23 27 2.84 12 full height 12E all** 39 39 24 27 2.84 12 full height 12F all** 40 40 26 27 2.84 12 full height 12

NB, NS, PEI, NFL ,

YT, NWT, NUall National Building Code of Canada*

Insulation levels are nominal R-values, not effective values for assemblies.* National Building Code of Canada has no specific insulation requirements except that insulation be used to prevent condensation.The NBC does recommend using the Model National Energy Code for Houses (MNECH).Provinces using the NBC usually impose some, non energy related, modifications** Quebec: Total assembly R-value requirements between framing members*** ER ratings are the ‘old’ rating values (CSA A440.2-1998)

Since windows can account for 25 to 50 per cent of the heat loss of a house (depending on house design, climate and window types) any improvement of window performance will have a significant impact on the home’s en-ergy use, not to mention comfort.

Based on the EGH evaluations, the average new gas-heated house in British Columbia has a total energy use only slightly less than code mini-mum houses, suggesting that many houses there do not meet minimum code requirements.

The average new, gas-heated houses, in zone 1 of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec used 88 to 93 per cent as much energy as the code minimum houses. Houses in Quebec’s zone 2 (surround-ing Quebec City) were much better insulated and airtight. They used less

Fuel Code

required

Number

of Houses

Fans HRV none Remarks*

B.C. All BCBC 252 20% 2% 77% Most zone A

Alberta All NBC 1418 58% 4% 38% Most zone 1

Saskatchewan All NBC 209 9% 38% 53%

Manitoba All NBC 114 4% 25% 70% Most zone 1

Ontario All OBC 847 5% 24% 71% Most zone 1

Quebec All NBC 1106 6% 84% 10% Regions A & B

Maritimes All NBC 389 1% 93% 6% All Maritimes

Territories All NBC 154 11% 9% 80% All Territories

Source: EGH database, houses built post 1999

* Regions defined by the Model National Energy Code for Houses

HPAC02_069,070.indd 70 03/06/2007 11:11:47 AM

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