YELLOWKNIFE - City council is contemplating whether to adopt tougher, new building standards that may translate into more energy efficient homes but also higher construction costs.

Hamish Matheson pulls a sheet of plywood onto the roof of the new Yellowknife Arts and Crafts Guild under construction in Kam Lake industrial park, Tuesday. Construction costs are due to rise under a city efficiency plan currently under consideration by city council. - Peter Crnogorac/NNSL photos

To get there, council wants to consult the public on plans to phase in a set of rules and energy standards for new homes

The city's proposal would see home builders follow the national EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) 80 standard for new residential homes. Commercial buildings would be built under the federal government's Commercial Building Incentive Program (CBIP) standard.

Jeffrey Humble, director of planning and development for the city, said that most newer homes in Yellowknife are at an EGH rating of 72, and the goal is to get that the number up to 80.

EGH-80 is a numerical rating system for residential houses.

The concept starts at a rating of zero for low energy efficiency with no insulation and severe air leakage. A rating of 100 is an airtight but well-ventilated house heated by alternative energy sources to furnace fuels such as solar power.

Humble said to get to a rating of 80 it will cost home builders about $11,000 more to build compared to house with a rating of 72. He said homeowners will eventually save $1,400 a year from energy savings with an EGH-80 home. He didn't say how much the CBIP standard would cost commercial space builders.

The new energy proposal is a direct result of the city's Community Energy Plan adopted on Sept. 11, 2006, with a goal to make buildings and infrastructure more energy efficient.

The EnerGuide 80 and CBIP standards are not up for review. They are now mandatory under city bylaw. It's how these standards will be implemented that is raising questions. Council is debating whether to have the new standards in place by 2009, earlier or even later.

All city councillors present at Monday's Policies and Budget Committee meeting appeared to support the measures.

"If there is one place in Canada that should do this, it would be here," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy.

Bill Sandricks, building inspection manager for the city, said imposing the new measures means some compromises will have to be made between builders and the city.

He said that the Canadian Manufactured Housing Institute (CMHI) has already informed his department that they would not be able to manufacture mobile homes and legally transport them using the measurements proposed by the city.

"They have indicated that using the wheel struts for extra installation within the roof would put the homes above height regulations for shipping now in place," he explained.

Sandricks said the CMHI is willing to add other efficiency standards, however, such as higher quality windows, rather then rejigging their home packages.

Coun. Bob Brooks said other problems with the rating standards may become evident later on.

"The concern is capacity," he said. "Not just the capacity of the product, but our administration capacity. Do we have enough administration aware of the standards so we don't have to train them?"

Sandricks said the process is straightforward. He said in the future, when a contractor applies for a building permit, they will have to fill out an efficiency check list to ensure they are building equivalent to EGH-80.

He added that inspectors will use a smoke test, among other tools, to judge if a new installation by a contractor is up to snuff.

Most of city council is split on how quickly the city should implement the standards.

Coun. Bob Brooks said he prefers a slower phasing-in process, like the one proposed by the city, which has 2009 as the target date for the new standards.

"We have also recently been talking about affordability, but every time we talk about something new, that goes right out the window," he said.

Coun. Kevin Kennedy said he agreed with the idea of holding a plebiscite on how to phase in the measure, but said he would prefer the measures be put in immediately.

"Personally, I don't want to see any new houses without these standards," he said. "But in practice that may not be possible...but we should get to this as quick as possible."

Coun. Mark Heyck said as far as he is aware there are no government grants available as of yet to offset the costs of making homes more energy efficient.

Council will vote on whether to proceed with public consultation meetings at the next council meeting, Feb. 26.