Zero Carbon Building Standards marks 7th anniversary 

When launched, the Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) Standards program was the first of its kind in the world. The end of October marks the seventh anniversary of the program, and the decarbonization of buildings has grown to become a priority for governments, owners, and investors. Take a look at some of the recent program developments meant to support the market and the adoption milestones we’ve hit as momentum for the program grows. 

Program developments  

Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard™ v4:

This past June, CAGBC introduced the latest version of the ZCB-Design Standard. The new version was updated to reflect evolving market needs and take advantage of new technologies and processes to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions. The Standard included a directed focus on embodied carbon, onsite combustion, refrigerants, resiliency, good grid citizenship, and zero carbon transition plans.  

The Zero Carbon Building Essentials™ Micro-Credential:

In September, CAGBC introduced the ZCB-Essentials Micro-Credential, a new learning path for building industry professionals seeking to better understand zero-carbon concepts. The micro-credential will help participants develop the knowledge needed to advance carbon reductions and demonstrate proficiency in applying CAGBC’s ZCB Standards. 

Updated Introductory Webinar and Interactive Workshop:

Also this fall, we revamped our popular Introduction to the ZCB Standards webinar, as well as our ZCB Standard Interactive Workshop. The updated introductory webinar reflects the most recent version of the Standards, and the updated workshop uses case studies to offer insights into the requirements of the Standards and practical experience leveraging CAGBC tools to examine performance and document compliance. 

Updated ZCB Standard Workbooks:

More recently, CAGBC updated the workbooks for ZCB-Performance v2, ZCB-Design v3, and ZCB-Design v4. The updates include current emissions factors, an expanded list of refrigerants, edits to the Submittals and Summary tabs, and new sections to reference any ZCB Interpretations used to demonstrate compliance. 

Adoption milestones  

400 registrations under ZCB-Design:

CAGBC has hit a massive milestone, with 400 projects registered for ZCB-Design. We applaud these market leaders and their commitment to decarbonization! 

150 buildings certified:

Earlier this year CAGBC celebrated 100 buildings certified under the ZCB Standards. With the pace of certification accelerating, we’ve already hit 150.  

Over 2 million m2 of certified space:

The more than 80 buildings certified under ZCB-Design represent 1.1 million square meters of certified space. The nearly 70 buildings certified under ZCB-Performance represent a further 1.3 million square meters of certified space. 

Expansion to new provinces and building types:

Buildings spanning seven provinces and 19 different building types have now certified under the ZCB Standards. 

Four projects achieve five-years of consecutive annual certification:

Earlier in the year we celebrated the first two buildings to achieve five consecutive ZCB-Performance certifications: The Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation (Hamilton, ON) and Le Phénix (Montreal, QC). Since then, two others joined this list: Édifice Jacques-Parizeau (Montreal, QC) and 355 Wilkinson (Dartmouth, NS).