Energy efficiency regulations in BC are evolving faster than most people realize. Here’s what the Step Code is, why it matters, and what builders and homeowners need to understand before breaking ground.
If you’ve started looking into building a new home in BC in the last few years, chances are someone has mentioned the BC Energy Step Code. It might have come from your designer, your municipality, or a builder who started talking about “Step 3 compliance” in a way that felt like it required a decoder ring. The good news is that the concept is actually straightforward once you strip away the jargon — and understanding it will make you a better client and a more informed homeowner.
The BC Energy Step Code is a provincial standard that layers on top of the base BC Building Code to establish progressively higher levels of energy performance in new construction. Think of it as a ladder. The higher the step, the more energy-efficient the building — and the more airtight, well-insulated, and mechanically sophisticated it needs to be. Not every project is required to hit the same step. That depends on where you’re building and what your local government has adopted.
A Bit of Background
The province introduced the Step Code in 2017 as a framework for moving BC toward net-zero energy-ready construction by 2032. Rather than mandating a single universal standard overnight, the Step Code gave municipalities the ability to require higher levels of energy performance at their own pace — with the understanding that the baseline would eventually rise for everyone.
That timeline has been compressing. The 2024 BC Building Code update moved the mandatory baseline up significantly, and many municipalities in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley had already been requiring Step 3 or higher for new residential construction well before the province caught up. If you’re building in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, or anywhere else in our typical service area, you need to know what your local authority is requiring — because “meeting code” means something more specific than it did five years ago.
What Does Step Compliance Actually Require?
Higher step requirements tend to push construction in a few consistent directions: improved insulation values, significantly better air sealing, high-performance windows, and mechanical ventilation systems — typically heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) — that manage fresh air exchange in a tight building envelope. At the higher steps, you’re also looking at performance-tested blower door results, which is an actual measurement of how airtight the building is, conducted on site before occupancy.
This is one of the bigger shifts from traditional code-minimum construction: the Step Code is outcome-based. You don’t just design to a prescriptive checklist and call it done. You need to demonstrate that the building actually performs at the level it was designed to.
- Step 1 & 2: Modest improvements over base code, achievable with conventional construction with some upgrades
- Step 3: Requires meaningful envelope improvements and a certified EnerGuide rating — currently the most common requirement in the Fraser Valley
- Step 4 & 5: Near and full net-zero energy ready; significantly more demanding for envelope, mechanical, and renewables
What This Means for Your Budget
Higher steps cost more to build — that’s the honest answer. Better windows, additional insulation, higher-grade air barriers, and the testing required to certify performance all add to construction costs. In our experience, the premium for Step 3 compliance on a typical residential build runs somewhere in the range of 3 to 8 percent over a Step 1 equivalent, depending on design and what’s already being specified.
The counter-argument — and it’s a legitimate one — is that the incremental mortgage cost of that upgrade is typically much smaller than the monthly operational savings in heating and cooling. A house that costs $25,000 more to build but saves you $150 to $250 a month in energy costs is a different financial proposition than it looks on first glance. It also tends to be a healthier, more comfortable home to live in, with better humidity control, fewer drafts, and more consistent temperatures throughout.
What You Should Ask Your Builder
If you’re planning a new build, ask specifically what step your project is being designed to and why. Ask whether blower door testing is included in the scope. Ask who is completing the EnerGuide evaluation and at what stage of construction. These aren’t gotcha questions — any builder who has been doing this seriously for the last few years should have clear answers.
At MacQueen Systems, we design and build to the step that your municipality requires, and we’re upfront about what that means for cost and timeline from the beginning. If you’re in the early planning stages and want to understand what applies to your property, we’re glad to walk through it with you.