The ZEBx Mission
To rapidly accelerate the knowledge, capacity and passion for
zero-emissions buildings in Vancouver and British Columbia.
Our Roots
The Zero Emissions Building Exchange (ZEBx) was first conceived by the City of Vancouver’s Green Buildings Team. In 2016, the City launched its Zero Emissions Building Plan. Part of this plan included the creation of a Centre of Excellence to support industry in its efforts to comply with the City’s upcoming energy and emissions requirements for new buildings.
ZEBx was launched in July 2018 as a program of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA), with seed-funding from the City of Vancouver, the Bullitt Foundation, the Real Estate Foundation of BC and the Climate Neutral Cities Alliance. In June 2021, ZEBx was transferred to SFU’s Centre for Dialogue (Renewable Cities). In September 2021, with the support of the City of Vancouver and BC Hydro, ZEBx launched the Building to Electrification Coalition (B2E) - a specialized program to advance building decarbonization through electrification. In March 2022, ZEBx adopted Carbon Leadership Forum British Columbia as another specialized program focused on reducing embodied carbon in buildings.
In April 2022, ZEBx was adopted by the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC), one of six Low-Carbon Cities Canada centres across Canada.
Our Objectives
At its inception, ZEBx oriented its services around the City of Vancouver’s 2016 Zero Emissions Building Plan and its goal to eliminate operational emissions from new buildings. As the City’s focus expanded and building emissions began to be addressed more actively across the province (e.g., through the adoption of the BC Energy Step Code), ZEBx’s focus expanded in scope and geographically.
Today, ZEBx, in conjunction with the rest of ZEIC’s Building Decarbonization Team, supports the BC building industry and public sector staff as they work to reduce operational and embodied emissions from both new and existing buildings and from both Part 9 (small) and Part 3 (large) buildings.
Our work is influenced by:
Policies and plans like the City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, the Metro Vancouver Climate 2050 Roadmap for Buildings, BC Hydro’s Building Electrification Roadmap and Five-Year Electrification Plan, to name a few;
Regulations, codes, and standards (by the City of Vancouver’s and the Province of British Columbia) that aim to reduce energy consumption and emissions from buildings in BC; and
The building sector’s drive to reduce its impact on climate change while also providing high-quality, safe, and resilient housing for generations to come.
Since being adopted by ZEIC, ZEBx has become a distinct program area that no longer needs to manage the other program areas (e.g., B2E, CLF BC, etc.). This has allowed ZEBx to direct more of its attention on reinvigorating its role as the building decarbonization hub for the province, identifying gaps in understanding and/or support across the industry (e.g., integrating more discussion about whole-life carbon, resilience, etc.), and more effectively synthesizing, communicating, and distributing the great work happening across the province to a broader audience.
How We Work
1
First Point of Contact
We are the first point of contact for those not already explicitly interested in electrification, reducing embodied emissions, or accelerating building retrofits to help them or their organizations navigate the complex world of building decarbonization and most productively contribute to it.
2
Main Platform
We are the main platform for distributing, sharing, and amplifying resources for ZEIC’s Building Decarbonization team. We produce capacity-building resources such as publications, podcasts, videos, webinars and in-person events.
3
Primary Convenor
We are the primary convenor of industry to host discussions that overlap specialist areas, identify synergies and co-benefits, and to promote collaborative and interdisciplinary solutions. We build a community of practice through our events, by reinforcing and connecting networks, and through our outreach and engagement work.
All of this results in growing confidence and enthusiasm for zero-emissions buildings in BC.
ZEBx is now a well-known and respected industry hub for building decarbonization. As a testament to its success, the Emissions-Neutral Building Information Exchange (ENBIX) and Building to Zero Exchange (BTZx) were launched in 2023 as localized and adapted versions of ZEBx in Alberta and Nova Scotia, respectively.
Gallery
Attendees of ZEBx’ 5-year anniversary in September 2023
The ZEBx Team at ZEIC
Natalie Douglas, MScPI, RPP, MCIP
ZEBx Program Manager, ZEIC
Natalie brings to ZEBx an unwavering dedication to taking ambitious climate action and fostering inclusive, creative, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Despite being captivated by buildings (and the spaces between them) early in life, her path to urban planning and the construction industry has been deliberately unhurried.
Her experience working in fields such as health education, law, and civic engagement has contributed to a nuanced understanding of the compromises, opportunities, and externalities that exist in the pursuit of climate action and building decarbonization. This perspective has also been shaped her experience getting to know the development process in BC and Ontario and in both small towns and big cities. Before taking on this role, Natalie worked for the City of Nelson where she worked to elevate the topic of embodied carbon emissions and help build industry capacity to pursue building decarbonization more collaboratively in the Kootenays.
She leverages her leadership and multidisciplinary expertise to help advance sustainable construction practices in a holistic and pragmatic manner and is deeply committed to fostering transformative change in the built environment.
Email: natalie.douglas@zeic.ca
Call: 604-330-2017
Kim McClymont, B.A., LEED AP (BD+C)
Project Manager, ZEIC
Kim brings over a decade of experience in sustainable development that spans work in Germany, Scandinavia, Cuba and most recently Vancouver. Successes include international partnerships, leading market growth and effective multi-stakeholder project management. In her previous role as Sustainability Advisor for Integral Group she developed an in-depth working knowledge of high performance buildings across multiple technical disciplines including architecture, landscape and engineering design through to construction management and building operations.
She has a solid grasp of active engineering concepts; meanwhile, her passion lies in passive design solutions. She endeavours to pursue meaningful market transformation towards climate neutral development and is especially committed to the field at this critical time.
Email: kim.mcclymont@zeic.ca
Call: 604-330-2017
More about the ZEIC Team
ZEBx Founding Partners
ZEBx was founded through seed funding from the City of Vancouver, with additional financial support provided by the Real Estate Foundation of BC, the Bullitt Foundation, and the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance.
