Valérie Anne Brouillard on the role of regulations in Quebec’s energy transition

Regulatory measures play a crucial role in addressing climate challenges, particularly in large urban areas. Across Canada, engineers are actively engaged on multiple fronts to sustainably reduce building emissions. Many experts believe that regulations remain the most effective tools for supporting energy transition. This viewpoint is shared by Valérie Anne Brouillard, an engineer specializing in energy efficiency and decarbonization. In this edition of Ask the Expert, she discusses the importance of investing in sustainable buildings, Quebec’s economy, relevant regulations, and systems for assessing environmental performance.

Can you tell us about your career path and your current role?

Earlier in my career, I worked as an environmental regulatory consultant conducting compliance audits and calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) and atmospheric emissions for various industrial companies across Quebec and Canada. In 2016, I joined the City of Montréal as an engineer specializing in environmental issues and climate change. For the first three years, I focused primarily on preparing GHG inventories for municipal activities and the broader Montréal community, while also quantifying emissions associated with major municipal projects. In 2019, Montréal established its Ecological Transition and Resilience Office to develop a comprehensive Climate Plan. During my five-year tenure there, I was responsible for implementing GHG reduction measures in the real estate sector as part of Montréal’s Climate Plan 2020–2030.

Since September 2024, I have served as Senior Engineer in Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization Strategies for the Building Sector at Quebec’s Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks. My responsibilities include implementing the Environmental Performance of Buildings Act, enacted in March 2024, and overseeing the deployment of the Reporting, Rating, and Environmental Performance System for existing buildings—known as the Building Performance Standard (BPS). Concurrently, I am developing a benchmarking system specifically tailored to residential and small commercial buildings.

What was your involvement in developing the roadmap for decarbonizing buildings at Montréal’s Ecological Transition and Resilience Office, and why is this roadmap significant?

I actively participated in developing the “Roadmap to Zero-Emission Montréal Buildings by 2040,” unveiled at the 2022 Montréal Climate Summit. This roadmap outlines regulatory measures within the city’s Climate Plan designed to significantly reduce GHG emissions from buildings. My role included helping design the roadmap, preparing for public consultations, and subsequently overseeing its implementation.

This roadmap resulted in two groundbreaking regulations—significant not just for Montréal but also provincially and nationally. First, the Regulation on GHG Emissions from New Buildings prohibits combustion heating systems in new buildings. Second, the Regulation on Disclosure and Rating of GHG Emissions for Large Buildings sets the foundation for a municipal Building Performance Standard. These regulations, adopted by the municipal council, received positive feedback from stakeholders, including Quebec’s two main energy distributors. This favorable response reflects the careful diplomacy and consensus-building efforts by the city. Implementing this roadmap has positioned Montréal as a leader in ecological transition in Canada.

Investing in sustainable buildings is key to achieving Quebec’s climate targets. What economic benefits can Quebec gain from more energy-efficient buildings?

In 2022, the building sector (residential, commercial, and institutional) was responsible for 7.6 Mt CO₂ equivalent, representing 9.5% of Quebec’s total emissions, primarily due to heating needs. The sector’s emissions have decreased thanks to reduced consumption of petroleum products used for heating, particularly in residential buildings. Nevertheless, this sector accounts for 33% of Quebec’s total energy consumption. Between 1990 and 2022, despite improvements in energy intensity, residential energy consumption increased by 13%, while commercial and institutional consumption rose by 69% (State of Energy in Quebec, 2025 edition).

A significant potential for reducing these GHG emissions lies in decreasing energy loss. The 2030 Green Economy Plan, published in 2020, already emphasized the increased efforts needed in energy efficiency and improved peak load management.

For buildings powered by electricity, better energy management will free up energy capacity, providing flexibility to further electrify or repurpose this energy for other uses. In the case of buildings using fossil fuels, improving energy efficiency will directly reduce GHG emissions. In all scenarios, sustainable buildings with improved energy management will result in savings on energy bills for their owners and tenants.

These buildings are also expected to appreciate in value in the coming years, as the government implements an environmental performance rating system. Indeed, by prompting property owners to compare their buildings and assigning ratings, the most efficient buildings will stand out and gain a clear advantage in the real estate market.

Investing in energy efficiency pays off—not only for building owners but for society as a whole. As mentioned, energy capacity freed from Hydro-Québec’s distribution network through reduced demand for heating, cooling, and lighting in buildings can then be repurposed for other uses. For instance, it could be used to:

• Electrify other sectors, such as transportation;
• Support industrial projects within Quebec, generating employment;
• Export electricity to other provinces or the United States, generating greater profits for Hydro-Québec and Quebec society.

In fact, within the context of Quebec’s decarbonization and electrification efforts, Hydro-Québec estimates it will require an additional 60 TWh (or 9,000 MW) of energy by 2035 to successfully decarbonize Quebec. To limit the scale of new hydropower installations or large wind and solar farms, sustainable buildings and energy efficiency must be central to the solution. Indeed, Hydro-Québec plans to increasingly focus on energy efficiency in buildings, aiming to free up more than 3,500 MW from the grid. Clearly, we haven’t heard the last of sustainable buildings!

How does the government lead and support businesses and managers involved in the transition? What role does the Ministry of Environment, Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) play?

The role of the Ministry of the Environment is to prevent and reduce GHG emissions in order to mitigate the environmental, economic, and social consequences of climate change. It is also responsible for supporting the energy transition and promoting adaptation to climate change. To achieve these objectives, the Ministry has established a framework policy—the 2030 Green Economy Plan (PGE)—which defines measures to be implemented across all sectors of activity.

A wide range of measures and programs have been implemented by the Ministry to support the development of sustainable buildings and energy efficiency in buildings. For example, the Rénoclimat program guides homeowners through residential renovation projects aimed at improving their building’s energy performance. This includes benefiting from professional home advisory services and financial assistance for insulation, air sealing, and the replacement of doors and windows. In addition, Hydro-Québec’s LogisVert program offers financial support for the purchase of heat pumps. Furthermore, eligibility income thresholds for the Éconologis program have been increased.

Funding for the Chauffez vert (residential) and ÉcoPerformance (commercial, institutional, and beyond) programs continues, supporting homeowners and businesses aiming to transition from heating systems fully powered by natural gas to systems primarily powered by electricity, or converting oil-based heating systems to renewable energy systems. The ÉcoPerformance program also provides subsidies for energy efficiency analysis projects, mechanical systems recommissioning, implementation of energy management systems, installation of CO₂-based refrigeration systems in grocery stores or convenience stores, and energy efficiency projects targeting large emitters subject to the cap-and-trade system (SPEDE) and voluntary participants.

Finally, the Bioénergie program offers financial assistance to analyze or implement bioenergy conversion projects aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption.

Additionally, the Ministry has already announced plans to strengthen regulations governing fossil fuel use in buildings and to encourage greater energy efficiency. In this regard, the following actions have been included in the latest PGE Implementation Plan:

• Enhancing the Valorisation des rejets thermiques (Waste Heat Recovery) program and introducing new regulations that require industries to annually report data on waste heat emissions.
• Establishing an Environmental Performance System for buildings, starting with regulations that make it mandatory for commercial, institutional buildings, and large multi-unit residential buildings to disclose their energy consumption and GHG emission data.
• For buildings not covered by the Environmental Performance System, initiatives have begun in partnership with Hydro-Québec to inform homeowners about the energy performance of their residences.
• Raising environmental performance standards for all buildings, whether undergoing renovations or new construction.

What legislative measures does the new Environmental Performance of Buildings Act introduce? Will performance standards be introduced gradually?

The new Environmental Performance of Buildings Act grants the government and the Minister of the Environment new powers to better regulate the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings in Quebec. Specifically, this law enables the government to determine what information related to building environmental performance must be reported. Furthermore, the law provides the government with the authority to assign an environmental performance rating to buildings and to establish, by regulation, minimum performance standards that must be respected. These new powers form the main legal foundation for implementing an Environmental Performance System for buildings. At the same time, the law allows for the development of environmental performance standards related to construction work.

The Environmental Performance System for buildings is structured around four main components:

• Reporting: This component requires owners of covered buildings to provide certain information to the Minister, including the building’s energy consumption and its main physical characteristics. This reporting automatically raises the owner’s awareness of the building’s environmental performance.
• Rating: Based on the reported data, this component involves calculating and assigning a rating that evaluates the building’s environmental performance. This facilitates comparisons between buildings of the same type.
• Public Disclosure: This component involves making some of the reported information publicly available, and in certain cases, the assigned rating as well, to inform the population, including professionals, researchers, and the general public.
• Minimum Performance Standards: This component is the cornerstone of the system, as it encourages building owners to improve their building’s rating in order to comply with minimum environmental performance standards, particularly regarding energy consumption and GHG emissions.

The implementation of this Environmental Performance System has been identified in the 2024-2025 Implementation Plan of the 2030 Green Economy Plan as a key measure allowing building owners to actively contribute to achieving the government’s GHG emission reduction targets. Additionally, the information collected through this system will enable the Ministry of the Environment to better inform and support its initiatives in the buildings sector.