Vancouver construction industry asks council to reconsider natural gas policy reversal

While some homebuilders oppose council's recent move, the shift was welcomed by a coalition of labour and business groups

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Published Oct 12, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Scott Kennedy in front of a duplex in Vancouver. "In my mind, the right thing to do is to decarbonize. And one of the simplest ways to do it is to get (natural gas heating) out of our buildings." Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG

Dozens of Vancouver construction industry leaders have sent a letter calling on city council to reverse its plan to start allowing natural gas heating in new buildings.

The builders are responding to Vancouver council’s surprise decision in July to direct staff to amend city bylaws to enable natural gas for heating and hot water in new construction, reversing a policy approved in 2020 by the previous council with the aim of reducing carbon pollution. During the recent meeting, the ABC council members who supported the policy reversal said it was intended to speed up housing construction and improve affordability.

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But a group of builders is now asking council to reconsider their position before the amended bylaws come back for final adoption later this fall.

“While Vancouver is clearly suffering from a housing affordability crisis, this is not the result of the current emissions limits for new buildings,” says the letter, which was sent Oct. 4 and signed by 40 names, including presidents, principals, and partners of Vancouver-area construction, design, architecture and development firms.

“The construction or development costs and schedule are determined by far more dominant factors, such as financing terms and rates, permitting times and fees, development cost charges, labour, material and equipment cost and availability, land values, and a variety of other factors that render the financial impact of emissions limits insignificant in most cases,” the letter says. “The cost to rent or purchase a home is dictated by the market (supply vs. demand) and not by construction or development costs.”

Although the city had banned the use of natural gas for heating and hot water in new residential construction, the rules do not prevent the use of gas for other purposes such as cooking, fireplaces, and backup heating.

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Council’s recent reversal on natural gas was praised by the Homebuilders Association Vancouver, with acting CEO Wendy McNeil quoted in a news release calling it a “game-changer” that would empower builders to “build more housing faster while paving the way for more attainable housing solutions.” McNeil also told CBC News at the time she was “quite surprised” by the bylaw reversal, because she did not know the issue would be up for discussion.

But some Homebuilders Association members were disappointed by the organization’s position on the issue, including Bryn Davidson, co-owner of Lanefab Design/Build, a Vancouver company specializing in low-carbon construction of custom homes and multiplexes.

The change will not make housing more affordable, said Davidson, one of the 40 builders who signed last week’s letter.

Davidson understands why people in the business of selling gas and gas infrastructure would support this change, he said. “But I don’t see any reason to do this, other than lobbying.”

“We’re at a point in history where we shouldn’t be building any new infrastructure for fossil fuels. We need them, and we use them, but we’ve got to stop expanding them,” he said.

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Another group that welcomed Vancouver’s recent change was the B.C. Coalition for Affordable Dependable Energy, which includes business groups, restaurant and hospitality industry associations, and propane companies, as well as associations representing plumbers, electricians and building trades.

B.C. Hydro has recently had difficulty producing enough electricity to meet demand in recent years, said coalition spokesperson Bill Tieleman, and with snow pack and river levels low this year, that is likely to continue.

Tieleman said he was not surprised that a “small sector” of the sustainable building industry would oppose repealing the natural gas ban, but keeping it would be “an expensive mistake” and “Vancouver is doing absolutely the right thing.”

Vancouver was one of the first B.C. municipalities to limit natural gas in new buildings, but several other cities have followed. Tieleman says these municipalities’ efforts are “aspirational at best, given the circumstances, and they’re going to be costly for consumers.”

Scott Kennedy, principal of Cornerstone Architecture, said council’s July decision “caught everybody by surprise, and there’s been a lot of concern over it in the community.”

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“There was a lot of grassroots interest in getting something going,” he said, which led to the letter that he signed. Since it was sent, additional building industry leaders have also signed on to support, he added.

“In my mind, the right thing to do is to decarbonize. And one of the simplest ways to do it is to get it out of our buildings,” Kennedy said.

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