Renewed momentum at Green Building Day on the Hill  

On May 5, CAGBC brought together industry leaders, public servants, and parliamentarians in Ottawa for the fifth annual of Green Building Day on the Hill – and left with renewed momentum around two of the most pressing issues facing Canada’s building sector: housing affordability and the transformative role of data in accelerating green building performance, benchmarking, and business outcomes..

More than 70 industry leaders, stakeholders, parliamentarians, and policy makers attended the event, which featured keynote presentations and panel discussions. One thing was abundantly clear: Canadians want energy-efficient housing and unlocking data around building and material performance is critical to enabling innovation, competitiveness, affordability and better climate outcomes.

New Research: Canadians want energy-efficient homes

To ground these conversations in evidence, CAGBC used Green Building Day on the Hill to share new data on what Canadians expect from housing—and the clear role energy performance plays in affordability.* The findings were shared by David Coletto, Founder, Chair and CEO of Abacus Data, and demonstrate that affordability concerns dominate Canadians’ thoughts.

According to the survey, 61 percent of Canadians consider cost of living as the top issue facing the country, well ahead of healthcare (35%) and housing (32%). As a result, people are paying close attention to housing and utility costs. Half of those surveyed say housing costs consume at least half of their monthly budget, and 72 percent report rising utility costs over the past year.

As the federal government looks to grow housing supply, CAGBC has called for a focus on quality as well as quantity. The survey shows CAGBC is aligned with what everyday Canadians also desire: a majority (65%) agree that living in an energy-efficient building would improve their quality of life and most (86%) support stronger energy efficiency requirements in new housing construction.

Tellingly, those surveyed look to the federal government to ensure energy efficiency with 91 percent indicating that Build Canada Homes should aim to build energy-efficient and resilient homes.

CAGBC will release more insights from the survey in the coming weeks, but initial results reinforce what the industry has long known – that energy efficiency and affordability are inseparable priorities for Canadian households – providing a powerful mandate for policy makers.

86% of Canadians support stronger energy efficiency requirements in new housing construction.

Industry and government participation

Green Building Day on the Hill’s appeal lies in its ability to demonstrate the role of industry in supporting good policy. As a result, it benefits from bipartisan support, and strong industry attendance. Attendees heard from Thomas Mueller, CAGBC’s President & CEO, Jody Becker, CAGBC’s Board Chair, and Taleeb Noormohamed, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville – who outlined how the green building sector is well positioned to become an economic and competitive advantage for Canada.

The attendees also had opportunity to dig into key issues through the panel discussions, which included:

• The Blueprint for Balance: Scaling Sustainable, Affordable Housing in Canada which featured panelists Nicholas Gefucia, Senior Vice President of EllisDon Community Builders, Jeremy Read, CEO of The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation, and moderator Diana Mokhallati, CAGBC’s Vice President of Market Growth.
• Building Performance:  From Insights to Action with panelists Maryam Farahinia, National Growth Manager with Schneider Electric, Philippe Hudon, President of Akonovia, and moderator Sophie Tee, Director, Office of Energy Efficiency, Natural Resources Canada.

Three trends that defined the day

Public opinion is moving – and policy must keep pace. The Abacus Data survey results demonstrated strong public support for energy-efficient homes, giving parliamentarians a clear signal from their constituents. Translating that public will into policy action – through building codes, incentive programs, and retrofit investments – remains both an urgent challenge and an achievable goal.

Affordable housing and energy efficiency must go hand in hand. As Canada works to address its housing shortage, building more homes is not enough – those homes must be built to perform. Energy-efficient construction lowers long-term costs for residents, reduces emissions, and ensures Canadians are not trading affordability today for unaffordable energy bills tomorrow.

Data is the backbone of green building – and it must be unlocked. From benchmarking building performance to informing investment decisions, credible and accessible data is the foundation on which the green building sector can scale. Panel discussions explored how standardized data collection, disclosure, and reporting frameworks can give developers, investors, and governments the confidence to act – and the tools to measure what matters.

CAGBC thanks our special guests, panel participants, and moderators, as well as all members of parliament, ministers’ advisors, and parliamentary staff who joined the green building leaders during the reception that followed Green Building Day on the Hill.