Why is Ottawa so far behind? California adopts statewide green building code

The following has been posted on LinkedIn by Scott Brooker at Cushman & Wakefield Ottawa, Green Real Estate Practice Group:

Why is Ottawa so far behind? California adopts statewide green building code
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/ID/4397

In this blog, I will try to touch upon some of the nuts and bolts relevant to the issue.

California has been in the forefront of adopting new greener solutions for some time. The movement has been further fueled by state’s problems with rolling blackouts exasperated by ever growing power demand. The leaders recognized the need to increase efficiencies along with the addition of more distributed power generation capabilities, leading to programs that stimulated adoption of these systems.
The new building code legislation is no different. It shows vision and responsibility, although there is the glaring question of being able to balance the state budget. I’m not familiar with the economic details to comment at this time.

Ottawa is far behind indeed. The issue is complex and not simple to answer in a short sentence. It will take some time and fair bit of energy to steer us in the right direction. It is called change.
I see several variables contributing to the root cause in relation specifically to both residential and commercial buildings.

We need to do much better in terms of changing political will and support that would lead to more robust funding, incentives, subsidies for championing the green building design and construction, moving it quickly into mainstream. Some barriers to entry we content with are high capital costs for retrofits, renewable energy systems, need for skills retooling, new talent and of course some appetite for risk that has been reduced by changing economy and rather cool funding climate in Ottawa. Still, I believe that we have plenty of entrepreneurial spirit left in Ottawa, we just need to nurture it and support it the right way. Not to mention this is a recipe for building emerging green economy and much needed job creation. If we won’t do it, others will. People overseas are wisely investing their money into the future and are starting to reap the benefits.
Other cities like Toronto passed legislation where any new commercial building will have to sport a green roof.
What bugs me the most is that Ottawa should be the leader in Canada, not a follower!
We need to build awareness and political support. Have a dialogue with your local politicians.

There is a lack of understanding what efficiency and sustainability is about and it's relevancy.
At present, you may be paying up front a bit more, but you quickly recoup your investment in reduced energy needs, higher productivity of tenants, increased health benefits (or reduced medical costs) and of course reduced footprint on the environment that we are so bad at quantifying. It makes absolutely no sense to me to heat up the sky in the winter then spend absurd amounts of energy to cool our buildings down in the summer months, etc..

The designers and builders are usually not the building operators. They are pressed by economic realities to build quick and cheap, often cutting corners with no foresight for the long term effects. Most buildings are built to minimum code, which isn’t much. This results in operational inefficiency, skyrocketing maintenance costs and wasted material filling up our landfills.
A fundamental paradigm shift is required to factor the quality into design and especially the execution of the project – construction.
There is a plenty of standards (LEED, PassivHaus, etc.) to examine. Especially the LEED system should be adopted as soon as possible for any new construction to mitigate the negative effects of the present, unsustainable practice.

We need to develop and standardize on use of better modeling systems, procedures for quantifying the operating benefits of green buildings. What you can’t measure, you can’t manage, hence the problem with status quo persists.
Without proper models, we are doing a poor job at cost/benefit prior to starting a project, so once again the old, known, but not so great - wins.

Low energy costs along with human nature are helping to keep the status quo.
Monitoring the trends outside of North America, the energy costs are guaranteed to rise in the next couple of years. Then we will be collectively scrambling to recover every last bit off efficiency to stay comfortable indoors and preserve our cash. It is not so hard to predict what that time and its economic impact may be like.

Certain aspects and priorities of system design and proper system integration often get overlooked, leading to only marginal and sometime costly end results. This has potential to detract developers from the adaptation of green design and construction in other projects.
The individual building designs (including residential), must be addressed per project case based on requirements and leveraging the building lot features for maximizing the passive strategies such as building orientation. We need to address all aspects of efficiency starting with footings, sealed building envelope, reflective roof, seasonal shading, HVAC, lighting, appliances, per circuit energy monitoring, building automation, storm sewer management, gray water management, etc.

Especially for retrofits, the assessment of renewable energy suitability should follow only after addressing the efficiency of the building envelope. This is a commonly made mistake, since the technology such as solar PV or solar thermal is much more expensive than spending money on new windows, insulation, air tightness as the first step to reduce energy requirements. Making these types of mistakes once again detracts from adaptation of the green building technology.

Green in general is still being viewed as the expensive solution, however in terms of implementation it is mostly related to economy of scale. From experience I can tell you that anything new or novel, will costs more, but this can change with a rapid adaptation of the new on a higher scale.
So for now, certain initial capital costs may be higher, but with clever use of technology, new materials, proven old passive techniques, etc. we can build buildings that will become highly sought after in a relatively short time.

Understanding the root cause of a problem is the first step to effective solutions, so keep the discussion going...
We also need more green building success stories in Ottawa, raising the public awareness.

I would like to close with the following thoughts:
We need change as more and more people are asking the same questions as Scott.
Personally, I would like to live and work in green buildings for better health, well being, increased productivity and of course, at home using the cash not spent on energies or avoidable fixes for activities that my family enjoys.