The B.C. building code rarely makes news, but according to NDP environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert, it has a huge impact on public safety and the cost of housing.

And Chandra Herbert, the MLA for Vancouver–West End, worries that the B.C. Liberal government is preparing to introduce a new code next spring without seeking sufficient public input.

“I’m concerned because nobody I’ve talked to seems to know it’s coming, when, of course, our built environment is such a key part of affordability,” Chandra Herbert told the Georgia Straight by phone. “Do we fight climate change or do we waste gas in poorly insulated buildings? Do we cut down on our power use, water use, et cetera? All of that gets wrapped up in the built environment and, in particular, in homes.”

In a June letter, Premier Christy Clark instructed the minister responsible for housing, Rich Coleman, to introduce a new B.C. building code in the spring 2015 legislative session. Coleman’s ministry service plan acknowledges that “application of building codes and standards can decrease the cost of construction and increase housing affordability.”

However, his staff refused to make anyone available to speak to the Straight about the extent of public consultation over the new code.

The code is a massive document that goes into incredible detail. For example, it requires one window to be included in every bedroom in multifamily buildings. These windows must have openings of at least 0.35 square metres so they can be used as emergency exits. Temporary buildings, on the other hand, do not have to comply with the code.

The code also maintains seismic standards. Seattle Times science writer Sandi Doughton outlined some of the consequences of a poor code in her book, Full Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest (Sasquatch Books, 2013). She cited UBC engineering professor Perry Adebar’s experiments showing that six-inch concrete shear walls between rooms are more likely to shatter suddenly than eight-inch concrete shear walls. That led to revisions in building codes across the country.

“Now Adebar is examining the engineering plans for 350 buildings in Vancouver to figure out how many are at serious risk from thin walls and other design flaws,” Doughton wrote. “The provincial government has undertaken similar studies for schools and public structures, but nobody in British Columbia—or Washington or Oregon—is scrutinizing the privately owned high-rises where so many people live and work.”

Chandra Herbert mentioned another concern: emergency-services personnel being locked out of entire floors in condominium towers because there’s no access from the lobby. “That would be a building-code thing because you’d have to decide: do you require a lockbox in the front,” he said.

The NDP MLA claimed that the B.C. Liberals have told local governments that they want a uniform building code across the province. “Right now,” he said, “municipalities have the right to introduce modifications to fit their own unique geographic areas but also to do innovative things, like ensuring all new housing could be plugged into solar panels, for example.”

He suggested that a one-size-fits-all formula will take away opportunities for energy-saving innovations. “I’m worried that we’re going to miss the boat on ensuring we have a really green building code that brings us closer to net-zero housing.”

Net-zero homes generate as much energy as they consume, whereas net-positive buildings produce more energy than they use. UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, for example, is a 60,000-square-foot building designed to reduce carbon emissions on the Point Grey campus.

Chandra Herbert said he wants to know if climate change will be a consideration in the government’s creation of a new building code. “It’s a huge opportunity to have lasting change,” he stated.

In 2013, Clark and the governors of Washington, Oregon, and California signed the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy. It included a clause calling upon them to “lead the way to ‘net zero’ buildings” to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and create good local jobs.

Chandra Herbert suggested that if B.C. creates a more sustainable building code, it will open opportunities to export products around the world.

“We could be selling this stuff rather than importing windows and importing doors,” he said.