Welcome to the Building Officials resource page.
Upcoming meetings
Late January/February-To be confirmed
Contact Information
Lisa Mak, Network Admin
lmak@communityenergy.ca
All Meetings
Time | Notes | Speaker(s) |
0:00 | Welcome | Lisa Mak, Community Energy Association |
1:08
|
Update on Solar and Battery Permitting Best Practices Guide
Rebecca Cuttler presented an overview of the Solar and Battery Permitting Best Practices Guide, a new resource in development to support local governments advance solar and battery installation safely and efficiently in their communities. Challenges include inconsistent municipal regulations, uncertainty about building code interpretations, and lack of clarity around permitting responsibilities. Building permits were found to be the bigger issue as opposed to electrical permits which are generally not a major issued, regardless of whether they are issued by Technical Safety BC or the local government. |
Rebecca Cuttler, Community Energy Association |
21:12 | Survey on permitting for solar across jurisdictions
Survey to understand permitting practices across BC. |
Survey results |
29:32 | Discussion
Key items of discussion included what is being required in the permit application for solar (eg. elevation drawings, roof plan and structural drawings; Schedule B), the use of letters of assurance for trusses, and dead load vs live loads. Snowloads, wind uplift, and seismic considerations are key concerns. While there is a Technical Safety BC bulletin on location requirements for batter-based energy storage systems, there is also desire for a bulletin from BSSB for minimum guidelines for storage as it is inside the building. |
|
43:00 | BC Local Government Climate Action Dashboard
Check out the BC Local Government Climate Action Dashboard to see which policy actions are being adopted and implemented in communities cross BC. The Buildings Highlights page provides a summary of which communities have adopted which step of the Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes. If you have any questions about the Dashboard and/or would like to update information for you community, please reach out to Rebecca: rcuttler@communityenergy.ca |
Rebecca Cuttler, Community Energy Association
|
46:06 | Updates from BOABC
Tyler Wright provided updates from BOABC, including:
|
Tyler Wright, BOABC |
49:33 | BOABC teaser video and wrap up
A teaser video for the training videos (mentioned above) was shared. Next meeting will be in late January/ February – date TBD. |
Lisa Mak, Community Energy Association |
Time | Notes | Speaker(s) |
0:00 | CSA F280 HVAC Requirements for Part 9
Todd Backus from TECA (Thermal Environmental Comfort Association) presented on the requirements for heating and cooling load calculations, especially regarding the cooling requirement. Todd discussed CSA F280-12 standard, code requirements, compliance, and a refuge room example. Heating and cooling equipment is required to be sized in accordance with CSA F280 under BC Building Code. Different calculators are available here, including TECA’s Heat Loss & Heat Gain calculator. It is important for data inputs to be accurate in order to yield proper models. A limitation of the F280 is that while calculates peak loads, it does not account for heat build up over time. An entire building also won’t be at peak load conditions simultaneously (eg. depending on sun position throughout the day). While blinds and shading can be included in the calculation, it is generally not recommended as it depends on occupant behaviour. |
Todd Backus, P. Eng
Manager, Programs Development TECA
|
41:08 | Q&A | Todd Backus, P. Eng
Manager, Programs Development TECA |
1:03:17 | Wrap Up
Qualification exams have been updated to 2024 Code and will take effect September 7th, 2024. Next BOPN meeting date – TBD |
Lisa Mak, CEA
Maria Miclea, BOABC |
Additional Resource:
BSSB Overheating bulletin: b24-08_overheating.pdf (gov.bc.ca)
Time | Notes |
1:00pm | Welcome |
1:05pm | Ministry of Housing update
|
1:15pm | Conversation with an Energy Advisor
|
1:55pm | Closing & next steps |
Time | Notes |
1:00pm | Welcome |
1:15pm | SCPN update |
1:20pm | Breakout activity: Workplanning and identifying priorities |
1:45pm | Report back & general discussion |
1:55pm | Closing & next steps |