Are you watching your ESG, or just your ESPN?

On April 10, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) announced that they would not completely harmonize the Ontario Building Code (OBC) with the National Building Code (NBC) 2020 9.36 and would preserve the use of SB-10 and SB-12. This is a victory to preserve builder choice — not just for energy compliance for building permits, but for allowing fairness in meeting local green building standards that solely reference government programs like Energy Star.

The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index and software recognized in SB-12 can continue to allow a standards-based approach, so builders can define their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Also, the HERS index and software is constantly monitored, improved and calibrated so that building codes, financial institutions and federal tax rebates can rely on the calculation of energy costs and CO₂ ratings and reductions.

Builders can use the HERS index and can readily compare their energy performance to their American counterparts. More importantly, the HERS carbon index allows them to compare their CO₂ emissions using an industry standard ANSI/RESNET/ICC 301 2022 Addendum B CO₂e Rating Index so they can score on their ESG goals. If builders want to play in the big leagues, having an ESG strategy is essential.