Building and Safety Policy Branch Tour
[ PDF | 96KB ]
Solar Hot Water
meeting the intend of the code
[ PDF | 428KB ]
Hard wire water conservation
[ PDF | 48KB ]
Policy Barriers to Sustainable Building
[ PDF | 88KB ]
Policy makers are faced with many challenges today including affordable housing.
What is affordable housing?
If it isn't affordable... it isn't sustainable.
The British Columbia government defines affordable housing as affordable to households with a range of needs and incomes but most often for those families at the low or moderate end of the scale. This also assumes that the government is not providing a subsidy for this housing.
In past years, house prices have sky rocketed and fewer and fewer people have access to housing options. When vacancy rates are low and accommodation is in great demand, rental prices increase, leaving many to seek out less than desirable houses for their families.
What has our eco-sense home cost?
*updated* About $137/ft2 Click here to see the numbers [ Cob House Expenses | PDF ]
The “Net Zero Zone”
Concept of new zoning that addresses sustainable building through zero waste, net zero energy, and net zero water. Addresses affordable housing by placing green building schemes on property title. Allows greater density due to minimal impact on environment and existing municipal infrastructure. More coming soon.
Building Within Code
Building codes provide minimum standards to ensure safety, health, property and general public welfare through regulation of design, construction, materials choices, use, location, maintenance and more.
Existing building code regulations makes it difficult for those choosing alternative building practices. For Eco-Sense, it meant installing a septic field at a cost of $30,000 where none was needed because a composting toilet system was being installed (using no water and no chemicals). This is just one example where it would be prudent for the building code to be reviewed and alternative methods researched and tested. This would ensure that the code is evolving with technologies and new methodologies.
Proposed BC Green Building Code Comments 2008 [ PDF | 80KB ]
Eco-Sense welcomes any discussions that may assist in helping the building code to evolve with our changing world.