Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need to improve the quality, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of our NWT housing and building stocks through an NWT buildings act.
Right now, mandatory standards in all provinces and Yukon require new buildings to meet the EGH 80 energy efficiency standard and 25 percent better than the National Model Energy Building Code.
While the standards of the National Modern Energy Building Code are required, there are no assurances these standards are being met due to the lack of small community inspections and enforcement systems.
Project management capacity at the community level is also a concern. For example, there is no guarantee that a new community building won’t be sited on permafrost for lack of a geotechnical survey. This raises major concerns. Public safety can be put at risk. Without standards there is no assurance of operational quality, energy efficiency, durability or security of investment. Because the best expertise for northern construction resides with our northern architects, engineers and consultants, lack of standards can allow our public dollars to leak south to those unfamiliar or under-qualified with northern requirements.
We need to ensure GNWT funds transferred to communities are used to build long-lasting and efficient buildings. The NWT Association of Communities has long called for the creation of NWT-wide building and inspection capacity, and passed resolutions pointing to the need for improved construction. There is a beginning of a response from the department, as we heard this morning.
The NWT Association of Architects, a bunch of professionals, has repeatedly brought forward the need for standards and compliance. The NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy and the new ministerial mandates call for NWT building standards to assist communities in reducing their energy costs.
An NWT buildings act would meet our responsibility for addressing these concerns, but we will also need to help our communities and citizens meet these standards by establishing an advisory and inspection capacity and by establishing systems to require professional assurances that standards have been met. We need to aim higher by ensuring our NWT standard for energy efficiency recognizes our northern conditions and exceeds southern standards. I will have questions for the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
