Change to City of Vancouver Permit Application Requirements for Part 3 Buildings – ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007
The City of Vancouver has recently expanded its documentation requirements for building permit applications to include ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007 for all new construction covered under Part 3 of the BC Building Code. Submission requirements for this new documentation will be phased-in starting with a voluntary submission date of January 20, 2012, followed by the mandatory submission requirement deadline beginning March 1, 2012.
This new submission requirement is a change to the submission documentation; the City has not changed its code requirements, but has merely added to its submission requirements at the building permit stage by requiring documentation of the process, specifically concerning building data, path options, and ASHRAE-specific details, while dropping the present request for signed and sealed compliance letters. This new process is being implemented in line with the City of Vancouver’s mandate to track and reduce the energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions of buildings, and the City considers the ASHRAE 90.1 standard to be a significant tool for managing long-term reductions in building energy use.
The City of Vancouver first referenced ASHRAE 90.1 - 1989 within the Vancouver Building By-Law (VBBL) in August of 1991, and has referenced updated versions throughout the last 20 years. The present code referencing ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007 has been in place since 2008, but until now, has never required compliance path documentation or statistical data for use by the City.
The new ASHRAE 90.1 – 2007 documentation process was introduced by the City of Vancouver in a bulletin issued on December 1, 2011. A new checklist and a tutorial outlining the documentation and submission requirements are available on the City’s Development Services webpage.
To provide additional assistance with the incorporation of the new requirements, the City of Vancouver, in conjunction with APEGBC and the Architectural Institute of BC (AIBC), is developing a seminar. More information will be provided on the APEGBC Professional Development webpage as it becomes available.