With vote looming, builders hope Vancouver sticks with gas restrictions

Nov 20

technician installing a HVAC system — An HVAC technician working on a heat pump. Photo by welcomia / iStock

By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson

Some of Vancouver's leading builders are eyeing with frustration an upcoming city council vote that could eliminate the city's years-old restrictions on using natural gas in new buildings.

The vote, scheduled for Nov. 26, will mark the end of a months-long controversy over efforts by conservative council members to scratch restrictions on the use of natural gas for heat and hot water in new buildings. The rules, implemented in 2020, made Vancouver the first Canadian municipality to restrict gas for climate reasons and inspired dozens of other local governments to do the same.

But in a dramatic July meeting, four council members voted to approve an unexpected amendment that would reverse the restrictions, citing affordability and consumer choice. Activists, construction industry leaders and more progressive councillors lambasted the decision. In October, about 150 business people wrote the city asking to keep the rules.

"I was quite surprised and frustrated by it," said Bryn Davidson, co-owner and lead designer of Lanefab design/build, a Vancouver-based green construction company. Vancouver is a good place to build because the city has been so consistent in creating its green building regulations, he said.

With vote looming, builders hope Vancouver sticks with gas restrictions

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