Energy Efficiency Building Code changes (SB-12)
February 10th, 2012

Recently it has been brought to the attention of OHBA, along with the building officials (OBOA & LMCBO) and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, that some municipalities and builders were experiencing issues with the declaration portion of the Energy Efficiency Design Summary form circulated throughout the industry in December prior to the implementation of SB-12 in the Building Code. Additionally, concern has been raised within the designer community about signing off on the form. The intent of the form is to capture information which would be contained in the design documents and specifications which make up part of the permit submission. Since the form is not intended to replace information shown elsewhere, it was felt that a formal declaration was not needed and merely cross-referencing with the designer name would suffice (in most instances the designer information would be the same as that shown on the permit application form). A place on the form is also included for the Mechanical drawing designers name (again for cross-referencing purposes). While not implicit, the person filling out the form should have a reasonable understanding of the information being requested to ensure it accurately reflects the information on the drawings and specifications. For instance, the mechanical design of a building could be impacted even when choosing a slightly different option path under the prescriptive method; therefore it is important that the information being captured from both the Architectural and Mechanical documents is consistent. The Guide on the reverse side of the form also provides some additional information on completing the form.

Although the OHBA/OBOA/LMCBO/MMAH Joint Working Group will be meeting again in late February to discuss the form and other implementation issues, it was felt this change needed to be dealt with sooner than later.  Please refer to the attached link for an updated version of the form which incorporates the designer information change to the form.  You will notice the revised form also includes a listing of the packages under the SB-12 Prescriptive option and the removal of the labeling requirement under the Energy Star option as this is not a requirement for permit submission. We have also included a revision date at the bottom of the form so everyone is aware of the most up-to-date version.EEDS – RevFeb062012