Talk Green Vancouver | City of Vancouver

Over half of Vancouver's greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Vancouver has the greenest building code for new homes in North America, but the technology already exists to support a more ambitious new construction requirement: net zero or carbon neutral new buildings. The UK requires all new homes to be carbon neutral by 2016, Denmark by 2020. Most greenhouse gas reductions, however, will come from existing buildings. Strategies such as requiring energy efficiency retrofits for people doing renovations are key. These green building innovations will create thousands of new jobs, create a significant economic stimulus, increase the value of buildings, reduce property owners’ operating costs, help Vancouver become more resilient to climate change and energy price fluctuations, and position Vancouver as a global leader in green building technologies and expertise.