Evening exterior view of the Crest, a multi-storey, multi-family residential building.

ZEBx construction cost analysis

Photo credit: Raef Grohne Architectural Photography, courtesy of Adera Development

Cost-effective energy-ready wood-framed multi-family buildings

In April 2017, the Province of British Columbia adopted the BC Energy Step Code (external link) as regulation. For large buildings governed by Part 3 of the BC Building Code, the Step Code provides four levels, or steps, of energy efficiency.

The front page of a ZebX presentation, Construction Cost Analysis of High-Performance Multi-Unit Residential Buildings in British Columbia

Currently, British Columbian municipalities can choose to adopt the Step Code and require that new developments meet a minimum step. In 2018, the province released its CleanBC plan—a plan that laid down a road map to net-zero energy-ready (NZER) design of new buildings by 2032. The plan established two steps on the way to the 2032 target. Beginning in 2022, all Part 3 buildings constructed in areas governed by the BC Building Code must be designed to achieve Step 2 of the Step Code. By 2027, all Part 3 buildings must achieve Step 3.

This research from ZEBx focuses on how to design and build NZER wood-framed, multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) as cost-effectively as possible. This particular building type has the potential to address both climate-related issues as well as urbanization issues facing large urban centres in a more balanced way than some other building archetypes.

Construction cost analysis of high-performance multi-residential buildings in B.C.

A comparative cost analysis by ZEBx of high-performing multi-residential units in B.C.

Construction Business article

Highlighted coverage of this research.

Opens in new tab