Annual General Meeting 2025: Key Takeaways

NECB for Pre-Eng Metal Buildings:

Presented by Cam Buskell, P.Eng, Safety Codes Building Sub-Council member (Energy Efficiency), Founding member of International Building Performance Simulation Association; and Craig Boris, P.Eng and senior partner of 908 Engineering.

1. NECB 2020 enforced as of May 1, 2024: restrictions on the amount of energy a building may consume with respect to envelope, lighting, HVAC, water heating and electrical systems.

2. Three paths to compliance:

Prescriptive – must meet specs with stringent energy efficiency requirements (highest construction cost).
Trade-off – trade off specs on a same-system basis only (doesn’t take advantage of all the savings available and doesn’t remove all expensive options).
Performance – energy modeling by trading off any spec from any system (usually lowest construction cost and most flexible).
Tiered Performance – a high-efficiency subset of Performance Path (rarely used with tighter performance restrictions).

3. Pre-eng building envelope: tested traditional and innovative roof and wall assemblies (thermal roof systems, thermal blocks, cavity filled and decreased insulation compression) have provided better performance values to integrate into energy models.

4. Planning for NECB Compliance: Engage an NECB professional early, preferably at the planning stage and before bid, to avoid costly redesign. An experienced building consultant can advise on efficient building systems design, identify red-flags, and provide turn-key fees for accurate bidding.

5. Solar: needs to be planned for early so that it is captured in the building design and pricing, as it will add collateral and drift load to your building. Including solar in the building permit application is necessary if you are taking advantage of the energy savings.