The Value of Energy Star Certification For Highrise Homes
JUNE 17, 2022
Ontario has launched a pilot program to reduce household energy consumption in multifamily high-rise buildings through Energy Star certification. The program helps builders meet or exceed the 2017 Ontario Building Code's energy reduction requirements by at least 15%. It includes energy-saving components and is the first of its kind in Canada.
Published by
Building Excellence
Collectively, heating, cooling and operating the lights and other fixtures in all the homes across the country are one of Canada’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. This is why it’s important to reduce household energy consumption. To date, most efforts have focused on retrofitting existing single-family homes or building efficient new homes.
Collectively, heating, cooling and operating the lights and other fixtures in all the homes across the country are one of Canada’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. This is why it’s important to reduce household energy consumption. To date, most efforts have focused on retrofitting existing single-family homes or building efficient new homes.
But there’s a pilot program in Ontario that’s focused on achieving those goals for multifamily high-rise buildings. Energy Star’s Multifamily High-Rise (New Construction) certification provides the guidance to help builders and developers meet or exceed the 2017 Ontario Building Code’s energy reduction requirements by at least 15 per cent. This is the first program in the country to explore an efficiency standard for high-rise multifamily residential buildings. (CHBA was involved in initiating the pilot project and the early phases of developing it before EnerQuality, the organization that coordinates Energy Star programs in Canada, took the lead on the program.)
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These goals are met by incorporating a variety of energy savings components including high-performance windows and exterior doors, higher-than-code levels of insulation, improved airtightness, efficient HVAC systems, and the use of Energy Star certified lighting and appliances. “It’s a performance-based metric, so it gives builders a lot of flexibility,” says Monica Curtis, EnerQuality’s newly appointed president and CEO.
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Completion of the program is a three-step process: Enroll, submit a design and then submit as-built documents which are reviewed by EnerQuality to complete quality assurance before certifying the building.
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Vince Molinaro, president of the Molinaro Group, which are CHBA members in West End Home Builders’ Association, was not only one of the first builders to sign on, he served on the steering committee that developed the program.
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“We’ve always tried to build sustainably. It’s good for the environment, and the quality of life for the people living there,” says Molinaro. Prior projects include its geothermally heated and cooled Strata and the LEED Silver Paradigm, both located in Burlington, Ont. Participating in the pilot project was an obvious next step. “It’s about us getting ahead of the [building] code. And we think it’s a great way to get other builders excited,” says Molinaro.