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Powering Communities

July 2026

In this edition:

Skyline of Downtown Vancouver's Coal Harbour A new CSA standard will make it easier for municipalities across B.C. to introduce mandatory reporting of building energy use and emissions.

Why you need the CSA building energy and carbon reporting standard

"CSA Z5040" doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but according to Elyse Henderson, Policy Specialist of the Market Transformation team at BC Hydro, it should be music to the ears of any Canadian municipality working towards goals related to energy use and CO2 emission reductions.

The CSA Z5040 standard is a 47-page downloadable comprehensive framework designed to standardize GHG emissions, energy, and water efficiency reporting for buildings. While it's a large document, it's designed as an easy-to-navigate, go-to reference for local governments.

The standard will help mandated reporting compliance for both municipal and provincial governments. It's about harmonizing data collection and creating consistent reporting across jurisdictions.

"Without information to more effectively develop policies and support programs that help you reach your climate goals or other goals, you're just operating blind," says Henderson, who represented BC Hydro on the Canadian Standard Association subcommittee that developed the CSA Z5040 standard.  "If you don't know your building stock, you have no framework in place to understand what you're dealing with. You can't regulate what you don't know."

So far, eight B.C. municipalities have either delivered, or are working on, mandated reporting of GHG emissions and energy by building owners. The City of Vancouver has done this without the help of the CSA Z5040 document, which was just released this year. Other leading local governments informed the development of the Z5040 Standard by joining the CSA sub-committee, leveraging their experience in developing their own reporting by-laws to refine the framework within the standard itself.

Henderson expects the upcoming reporting bylaws may reference the CSA standard or at least follow its framework. Those without bylaws in place can now simply adopt the CSA standard—something that especially benefits smaller municipalities with fewer resources. The goal is to have consistent standards across B.C., eventually supported by a provincially mandated reporting requirement.

"We didn't want every jurisdiction in B.C. to require a slightly different version of energy and carbon reporting," says Henderson.  "It would create a lot of confusion in the industry. Building owners would probably not be as compliant, because they may get frustrated and not do it. And the professionals who are supporting building owners with the data collection might get mixed up from one jurisdiction to another."

Henderson said the reporting standard Z5040 isn't attached to any requirements for buildings to be upgraded or to hit certain targets. It's all about gathering the data, and compliance so far has been strong in the City of Vancouver, where last year 97% of the buildings covered by the City's bylaw submitted reports.

It also never hurts to have a building owner learn more about their building. The more they learn, the more likely they are to move ahead with energy retrofits to increase building energy efficiency and reduce GHGs.

"Other jurisdictions, such as Seattle, have reporting and they've found that just the action of reporting on energy use has achieved energy savings through an increase in awareness," says Henderson. "There are benefits to both building owners and to municipalities in their development of effective policies."

Charlotte Reid, Community Energy Coordinator for Squamish and Whistler, poses with her mountain bike Charlotte Reid, community energy coordinator for Squamish and Whistler, pauses for a break on the Heavy Flow mountain bike trail at Whistler.

Partner Q & A: Charlotte Reid, Squamish and Whistler

Like so many snow seekers from abroad, Charlotte Reid came to Whistler for the skiing… and never left. Raised in Hertfordshire, just north of London, England and now a Canadian citizen, Reid has been a community energy coordinator for both the District of Squamish and the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) for just over a year. And she's been busy. Armed with a Master's of Science from the University of Birmingham, Reid reports to Whistler climate action coordinator Maria Thorlakson and Squamish sustainability and climate change manager Ian Picketts. In her first year, she has so far helped with initiatives including a proposed energy benchmarking and reporting bylaw in Whistler, community renewable energy generation strategies in both communities, and in communications around Whistler's Big Moves climate action plan. We talked to her about what has been a memorable first year in the BC Hydro-sponsored position.

The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Powering Communities: You're on two teams in two different towns, separated by 60 km of mountain highway. How does that work?

Charlotte Reid: I spend a day in each community every week, and then more when needed. Thankfully, one of the reasons this role can exist and why my managers went for it is that there are so many synergies between the work that each community is doing. I might be dedicating my time to a piece of work in Whistler, but can take what I learn there to the Squamish team, and that approach can accelerate timelines for them.

PC: Give us an example of how that's working.

CR: One of the most exciting things I'm working on is the creation of community renewable energy strategies for both communities. They will probably be separate strategies based on differing local contexts, based on what renewable resources exist in each community, but there are shared approaches. Thanks to BC Hydro's funding through the Implementation Offer, we're going to hire a consultant to do the resource assessment mapping.

PC: What sort of renewable energies are in scope so far?

CR: It could be anything from wind to solar, and we're keeping micro-hydro in the mix. The goal for us right now is to not rule out anything, but there's a lot of focus on solar in part because BC Hydro rebates are available, and BC Hydro has a community generation service rate on the table with the BCUC right now. We're doing this work simultaneously with both communities.

PC: I understand that Whistler is part of a peer-learning cohort with other local governments working on energy and carbon reporting bylaws. What's the status of Whistler's work toward a mandatory benchmarking bylaw that would require the owners of large buildings to report energy consumption to the RMOW for benchmarking purposes?

CR: We are working on engagement with the community on this reporting initiative. We're still in the initial stages, but the idea is that this reporting will build awareness among building owners of the energy their buildings are using to help motivate retrofits so that they can work towards reducing emissions and improving building efficiency. The other part is the gathering of data so that as a municipality we can understand where support is needed, who are the largest emitters and energy consumers, and what we can do to support their journey to decarbonize and improve building efficiency.

PC: I understand you're looking at a similar energy reporting bylaw in Squamish. What are some of the key messages you're taking to building owners in both communities?

CR: While we're asking for data on their energy usage, we have no authority to inflict requirements around how much energy a building can use. We're also building awareness that this isn't a red tape initiative. We just want to have a better understanding and more granularity around where our emissions and energy use is coming from.

PC:  Whistler's Big Moves Climate Action Implementation Plan outlines a roadmap that includes everything from reducing car use and visitor travel emissions to building better buildings. As someone involved in communicating that plan, what's your focus?

CR: Our goal is to bring more awareness and consistency around climate action, similar to the Don't Love it to Death campaign [launched in 2022 by the Sea-to-Sky Destination Management Council] that contained some powerful messaging around responsible recreation. Our communications plan will be about what we can do together as a community, the collective responsibility that can lead to more climate action. And we're also taking these ideas to our Squamish team.

PC: Your Master of Science degree was in environmental geology, including work in paleoclimates, climatology, climate modelling, and climate policy. Any thoughts on how we can be more effective with climate action in the coming years?

CR: On a personal level, I think we need to bring communities along with us, that we don't talk about climate action in silos. We need to be able to integrate it into everyday decision-making, and everyday life, without it always being a question of: 'Is this going to cost us more money?' Realistically, if we don't act on these things, the changing climate is going to cost us even more money. In five years time, I hope our conversation around climate action is less about fear, less of a taboo, and more hopeful with a focus on building resilient communities that can adapt to changing climates.

PC: You've been a ski instructor at Whistler since 2018 and worked in the waste management program for AWARE Whistler before landing the community energy coordinator job with Squamish and Whistler last year. Then a few months into the job, you were forced to take a break after crashing at Whistler Bike Park.

CR: I slipped a pedal between two jumps, went over the handlebars, broke both of my wrists and my right ring finger.  I had to take three and a half months off, and then I slowly worked my way back in.

PC: An epic crash on a mountain bike probably cemented your cred as a true Whistler local. How did your new managers handle the news and your extended rehabilitation?

CR: My Whistler manager (Thorlakson) had a bad experience at the bike park not too long ago, so she had a lot of sympathy and empathy for me. In a different place, it might have been a lot more difficult for me. One of the silver linings was how supportive both my teams were while I recovered.

Illustration of BC Hydro crew performing maintenance on overhead power lines using a bucket truck in residential area.

Trees and wires: How best to densify housing while protecting trees?

We're working closely with local governments and other key stakeholders to support development while balancing the need for a robust urban tree canopy.

Through the Trees and Wires Solutions Lab, we're developing a collaborative platform aimed at implementing solutions that will make it easier and quicker to connect to and upgrade electrical services while balancing urban forestry goals.

Read the case study: Balancing urban trees and power lines

Flat-style iMac dashbaord illustration

Connecting early for electric infrastructure in Saanich and Victoria

Many new housing developments in B.C. advance through the municipal approval process before BC Hydro is brought into the conversation. This has often led to delays, costly redesigns, the loss of trees that could have been saved, and frustrated applicants.

To address this, the District of Saanich and the City of Victoria partnered with BC Hydro to launch two new approaches aimed at early coordination in the application process. The shared goal: improve consultation and share project information for new developments earlier in the process to reduce friction and surprises later.

Read the case study: Connecting early for electrical infrastructure in Saanich and Victoria

Woman adjusting heat pump with remote Heat pumps are encouraged as an efficient way to keep apartments cooler.

Guide helps condo residents and stratas plan for a cooler building

Extreme heat is no longer an abstract concern in B.C. It's a growing life-safety risk that is already affecting people in their homes, including the roughly 1.5 million people who live in strata condominiums.

During extreme heat events, some condo homes can become dangerously hot and remain that way overnight. This is especially the case for those with large south-facing windows, minimal airflow, upper-floor exposure, and no mechanical cooling.

The stakes are high, and extend beyond home comfort. Prolonged indoor temperatures above 26°C can create health risks for heat-susceptible people, while higher sustained temperatures can significantly increase the risk of severe harm. Prolonged heat can also stress building systems and materials, shorten equipment life, and increase repair and replacement costs.

That's why the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC), through the Strata Energy Advisor, has just published Cooler Condos: How strata councils and residents can address overheating risk — and why they should.

The new guide gives strata council members and the owners they represent clear information on:

  • Risks of buildings overheating
  • Building-scale measures available to them, and their benefits, including energy efficiency
  • Resources and first steps that can move stratas from discussion to action

Cooler Condos explains that the most effective way to reduce overheating risk is active cooling—especially with energy-efficient electric heat pumps, ideally combined with measures such as sun-blocking exterior shades that limit how much heat enters a home. It also outlines measures owners and residents can pursue while their strata council is working on longer-term solutions.

Learn more at coolercondos.ca.

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