The BC Step Code is the provincial energy performance standard that sets how efficient a new building must be, and it now shapes the design, budget and schedule of almost every multi-family project in Kelowna and across the Okanagan. For developers and property owners, the practical question is not what the code says in the abstract but how the step you must meet changes what you build and what it costs.
What the BC Step Code Is
The BC Energy Step Code is an optional-to-mandatory pathway within the BC Building Code that sets measurable energy performance targets in a series of steps. Each step asks for a tighter building envelope, better airtightness and more efficient mechanical systems than the one before it. Instead of prescribing exact materials, it sets a performance result that the design team must prove with energy modelling and on-site testing.
There are separate step tables for smaller wood-frame buildings and for larger buildings, and multi-family projects can fall into either depending on their height and floor area. Knowing which table applies is the first task, because it determines the metrics your consultants must target.
Which Step Applies in Kelowna
The step required on a given project depends on the building type and on the local government. Provincial minimums have risen over the last several years, and municipalities including Kelowna have adopted requirements that can exceed the baseline, sometimes with higher steps for larger residential buildings. These requirements change, so confirm the current bylaw and code edition with the City before you finalize a pro forma. A requirement that is missed at this stage can force redesign after consultants have already been paid and approvals have been started.
It is also worth asking whether a higher step is advantageous. Some owners choose to exceed the minimum to reach lower operating costs, stronger marketing or incentive programs, but that decision should be made deliberately with cost data in hand.
How the Step Code Affects Construction Cost
Higher steps generally add cost through thicker insulation, better windows, more careful detailing at balconies and penetrations, and mechanical systems such as heat recovery ventilation. The increase is rarely uniform. Compact, simple building forms reach a given step far more easily than articulated designs with many corners and projecting balconies, which is why massing decisions made early have a larger cost effect than any product choice made later.
The right way to price these effects is through an early estimate that tests several options against the target step. Our overview of how construction cost estimating works at each project stage explains why numbers prepared before design is locked are the most useful ones for these decisions.
Design, Modelling and Testing Requirements
Compliance is demonstrated, not assumed. An energy advisor typically models the building during design, and the model is updated as the drawings develop. After construction, airtightness testing on the finished building confirms that the real result matches the model. A project that falls short may need remedial sealing work at a point when access is difficult and trades have already left the site.
This is where coordination on the job matters most. Air barrier continuity depends on framers, window installers, mechanical trades and envelope specialists all doing their parts in the right order. Bringing the energy advisor in at the start, and involving the builder through pre-construction services, lets the team resolve detailing questions on paper rather than in the field.
Planning the Step Code Into Your Schedule
Energy compliance documents are usually required as part of the application, so late changes to the target step can send a project back through design and delay approvals. Planning the energy strategy alongside the rest of the submission keeps the building permit timeline predictable. Procurement of high-performance windows and ventilation equipment can also carry long lead times, so ordering decisions should follow the energy model closely. Owners who sequence these decisions early avoid the rush purchases and substitutions that tend to erode both budget and performance.
How Team Construction Approaches the BC Step Code
Team Construction builds the target step into the feasibility budget and the design coordination process, so energy performance is priced and tested before drawings are finalized rather than discovered during construction. If you are planning a multi-family project in the Okanagan, contact us to talk through your energy targets.