The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is hiring an “energy advisor team” on a two-year term to help the municipality apply the zero carbon step code for buildings, which came into effect in January 2024.
The team and the grant funding for it, as well as the step code policy itself, is part of Whistler’s commitment to reducing its emissions by 50 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030.
“This code will be crucial in Whistler shifting towards energy-efficient and zero-carbon new construction,” said an RMOW communications official in an email to Pique explaining the decision to hire an entire team.
“However, making this shift and accelerating this work demands concerted efforts from those looking to accelerate this work, including the RMOW, builders, and property owners.”
The money for the team—$200,000 over two years—is entirely grant-funded. According to the official, the RMOW applied for grant funding through the federal department, Natural Resources Canada, in January of 2023, with the funds secured as part of the municipality’s adoption of the zero carbon step code.
“Between now and March 31, 2026 (when the grant period ends), the grant money will be used to hire an energy advisor team from outside the RMOW,” said the official.
“By hiring a consulting team, we will have access to a broader spectrum of knowledge and expertise.”
The three companies brought together for the team are Victoria-based Focal Engineering—which touts itself as focused on energy efficiency in retrofitting old buildings and designing new ones; Bernhardt Contracting, which is also a Victoria-based company with a focus on energy efficiency; and Pinna Sustainability, a Vancouver-based consulting company with experience in the municipal sector.
According to the municipality, the team will focus on supporting an accelerated timeline for the adoption of the BC Energy Step Code; help “increase knowledge and skill development within the local building sector” related to the code; use their experience in step code application to help the RMOW apply it; and help find new financial incentives and tools.
The team is being brought on at the same time the RMOW has committed itself to speeding up its building department work, with designs to rapidly shorten wait times of applications through the hiring of additional staff and the streamlining of processes.
The team also joins at the same time the RMOW has doubled down on its messaging around climate change, with the municipality self-declaring it is not meeting its climate targets and needs to lean further into efforts around reducing both its own corporate emissions, and emissions from the wider community.
