Thank you.
Mr. Chair, vice-chairs and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today.
I am Sheila Hayter, President of ASHRAE, which was founded in 1894 and is a global society advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The society and its more than 56,000 members worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. ASHRAE has about 6,000 members in Canada, and over 10% of our board members are Canadian, including Darryl Boyce, whom you will be hearing from later this morning.
ASHRAE is well known for our hundreds of standards and guidelines that improve the performance of building systems. ASHRAE provides training and professional development through in-person and online courses and validates and recognizes professional expertise through six certification programs.
I am excited that this esteemed committee is interested in studying the economic opportunities for energy efficiency in Canada and its contributions to Canada's climate commitments. With about 28% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions being attributed to residential and commercial building operations, ASHRAE's technical expertise can be useful in meeting your objectives.
I understand that you have already heard from organizations focusing on the economics of energy efficiency, and from utilities and those focused on energy generation and delivery.
As ASHRAE is a society of professionals with technical expertise, ASHRAE's testimony will focus on the technical tools, standards and guidelines that can help government and the private sector deliver on energy efficiency and building performance.
Importantly, ASHRAE's standards are voluntary, accredited by ANSI and developed through a consensus-based process through the participation of any and all interested and affected stakeholders, including manufacturers, users, and representatives of the government and academia. ASHRAE also serves in the role of international secretariat for several ISO technical committees to help ensure that ASHRAE standards are represented on the international stage.
Many of ASHRAE's standards are adopted into building codes, including those concerning energy efficiency and high-performance green buildings. ASHRAE's flagship standard, standard 90.1, which establishes minimum requirements for energy-efficient design of most buildings, is an indispensable reference for engineers and other professionals involved in the design of buildings and building systems. Standard 90.1 has been a benchmark for commercial energy consumption and energy codes in the United States and a key basis for codes and standards around the world for more than 35 years.
For communities wanting to achieve even better energy efficiency levels, ASHRAE has teamed up with the International Code Council, the Illuminating Engineering Society and the U.S. Green Building Council to publish the 2018 International Green Construction Code, powered by ASHRAE 189.1.
We understand that Canada has set even higher standards for itself in establishing a milestone to create a nationwide net-zero energy building code by 2030. ASHRAE is reviewing its existing portfolio of standards to determine the best way to create a net-zero building standard, and we would be happy to share our expertise in this regard.
ASHRAE has also partnered with AIA, IES, and USGBC and, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, we published a series of advanced energy design guides that provide a cost-effective approach to achieving advanced levels of energy savings using readily available technology. The newest guide in the series provides recommendations needed for achieving zero-energy buildings. We respectfully request that the committee accept copies of these guides as a brief for the committee record.
While building standards and codes can tackle emissions for new construction, most of the building environment already is in place today. Evaluating, assessing and then retrofitting buildings to improve energy performance is where Canada can make even greater progress toward its energy and climate commitments.
Darryl Boyce, president-elect of ASHRAE, knows buildings very well. He knows how to operate them, how to fix them and how to ensure optimal performance. As head of facilities at Carleton University, Darryl was responsible for over 50 buildings encompassing 450,000 square metres of building space, including labs, residential space and administrative operations.
I'm going to let Darryl talk about some of the tools ASHRAE has developed to improve energy performance in a cost-effective manner.