Live Webinar: Effective Step Code Practices for Quality, Comfort, and Resilience
Course Description
This live online webinar, taking place on April 23 from 9am-12pm, introduces BC Housing’s new Builder’s Visual Guide to BC Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes. The guide has been developed through interviews across British Columbia. Contributors include builders, trades, and technical experts.
The guide focuses on practical strategies that are designed to be buildable, durable, and repeatable on site. The webinar shows how the guide helps builders meet BC’s higher energy and carbon standards for new low-rise homes.
The session also covers long-term performance, including how to keep the building enclosure durable and how to maintain thermal safety and comfort. It also looks at quality assurance practices so that the modelled results match what is actually built.
Key learning outcomes from the webinar include:
- Describe the purpose, structure, and application of the BC Housing Builder’s Visual Guide to BC Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes for supporting Step Code outcomes in British Columbia.
- Identify the most common failure points at upper Step Code levels. These include weak early design integration, incomplete airtightness strategy, and gaps between modelled and as-built performance.
- Assess how building form, enclosure performance, and mechanical system choices affect measured energy and carbon outcomes.
- Outline an integrated design and delivery approach that supports Step Code compliance through coordinated modelling, detailing, commissioning, and quality assurance.
- Include climate resilience measures and communicate key performance features clearly to homeowners to support long-term use and maintenance.
Presenters
Mark Bernhardt, B.Sc. CPHC, REA
Mark is President of Bernhardt Contracting Ltd. and CEO of Energy Code Solutions. A Registered Energy Advisor and Passive House Consultant, he has led the development of some of Canada’s highest‑performance homes and created HEET, a Part 9 consulting tool. He serves on provincial code committees and delivers province‑wide education to help builders successfully achieve Step Code and high‑performance standards.
Davis Burson
Davis is a skilled researcher and policy analyst with a background in mechanical design and quantitative analysis. His expertise includes climate adaptation, clean transportation, and alternative energy. He has led engagement with builders, officials, and mechanical contractors across B.C., translating their insights into publicly available recommendations that support high‑performance housing throughout the province.