Saskatchewan was at Tier 2 and on its way to reach Tier 3 in the five tiers of the National Building Code for energy efficiency when the provincial government recently announced stepping back to Tier 1, because housing industry leaders say it will help with affordability.

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society has a different opinion and is calling on the government to change its course and begin taking climate change seriously.

Executive Director Allyson Brady notes that building a home is only part of the equation. She explains that when you build cheaper, with less energy efficiency, the utility bills will be higher for the homeowner. Brady points to Efficiency Canada’s calculations that from a home at Tier 1 to Tier 3, the annual utility costs savings are about $620 a year, and that payment never goes away.

She questions, “Why create that uncertainty for the homebuilders? Why create this extra cost for homeowners of new homes and why reduce our opportunity to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions? It just seems like a lose, lose, lose across the tables.”

Brady believes climate change will be even more of a challenge for a less efficient home because it will be less resilient to extreme heat and cold and more susceptible to pair air quality from forest fire smoke or pollution, because of air leakage.