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Codes Acceleration Workshops for Buildings Officials

Codes Acceleration Forum for Buildings Officials

Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) is proud to be delivering a national series of integrated design workshops for Codes Officials and other stakeholders. These workshops focus on how to achieve the various tiers of energy performance outlined in the 2020 National Building Code (NBC) and National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB), with real-world solutions grounded in high-performance design and technologies.

With funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Towards Net Zero Communities Fund, the workshops are designed to build capacity and support the adoption of the highest practical tiers across Canada. To date, over 550 participants—including building officials, inspectors, administrators, and energy advisors—have joined workshops in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia. Participants consistently report that the sessions significantly improve their understanding of code requirements, submission reviews, and practical pathways to compliance.

Each virtual workshop features:

  • Key highlights of the new codes, tailored by region

  • Presentations and guidance from local subject matter experts

  • Interactive technical exercises, such as design optimization and compliance (HOT 2000), calculating effective R-values, and heat pump performance

  • Collaborative solution development using performance path energy modelling

  • Examples, case studies, cost estimates, and emerging best practices

Supporting materials include SBC’s Codes Compliance Guide and Beyond Code Case Study (currently available for Ontario and Saskatchewan at the link below), which offer additional insights and practical tools to help implement higher-tier performance in real-world projects. These resources continue to evolve as SBC extends its codes work to other regions and organizations.

The SBC CAF workshop series is ongoing through 2025 – 2026, with more events planned in other regions across the country. Workshops were recently convened in Halifax. Nova Scotia (virtual), as well as in Mississauga, Kingston, and Thunder Bay (in-person). Codes officials, builders, and other industry stakeholders are encouraged to contact us if there is interest to attend planned events and/or in having SBC host a workshop in your region.

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12 workshops in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia to date

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550+ individual participants

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50+ hours of workshop technical delivery, 170 slide technical decks

Resource Library

Access our full library of downloads which currently includes a Net Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study, Ontario Best Practice Code Compliance Guides for Part 9 and for Part 3, and a Saskatchewan Best Practice Code Compliance Guide for Part 9

Continue to Resource Library

Natalia Ortiz Moreno

3. Natalia Ortiz_Photo

Natalia Ortiz, student of Project Management Environmental (PME) program in Seneca Polytechnic, has an Environmental Engineering background completed at Universidad El Bosque in Colombia. She has always been involved in sustainability roles and projects that included Environmental Management Systems implementation, Water Treatment Systems’ design and operation, Hazardous and Conventional Waste management and minimization practices, as well as Ecosystem’s Conservation and Energy
Efficiency programs.

For the PME – Applied Project Management Course, Natalia developed a Green Roof Assessment Tool for Seneca Polytechnic’s Office of Sustainability, with the aim to provide green roof technology recommendations best suited to a particular scenario, taking into consideration multiple aspects of green roofs and buildings; infrastructure, design, materials, environmental factors, and costs, as well as the Toronto Municipal Code – Green Roof bylaw. Natalia also has a scientific journal publication as the main author of the project “Selection and sizing of industrial wastewater treatment units required at the
new maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) aircraft facility owned by Avianca S.A. in Rionegro Antioquia” in the El Bosque University Journal of Technology.

Natalia strongly believes there are several research topics left to be developed, and the importance of
working towards Sustainability from different backgrounds, knowledge, and cultures to build strong, productive, and resilient communities.
With the vision of growing cities and infrastructure along with nature, always preserving and respecting the ecosystems’ attributes and services, Natalia would like to keep researching and acquiring more experience in Sustainability roles.



Emily Smit

Emily Smit photo

Emily is a second-year PhD student in Geography at the University of Toronto, and a co-operator of a small home renovation company, Magnus Home Improvements. Her research seeks to determine how single-family homes can quickly and best be retrofit to achieve Toronto’s emissions reductions targets – including net-zero by 2040 – as part of the TransformTO climate action plan. Specifically, she will assess the impact of municipal home energy reporting and disclosure programs, as well as produce recommendations for growing the retrofit labour force in ways that attend to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Further, her research seeks to understand how home retrofit activities can be regenerative and produce net-positive impacts for humans and the environment towards transformative, place-based sustainability. When not at her computer, Emily can be found cycling with her kids to and from school or making funky sounds on her analog synthesizer.

Bofa Udisi

Headshot_Bofa Udisi (2)

Bofa is a sustainability professional with over seven years in the energy and environment industry. He has a Bachelor of Science in Energy and Petroleum Studies from Novena University in Nigeria and graduate certificates in Energy Management and Environmental Project Management from Seneca College in Toronto. In 2020, he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Master of Environment and Business degree. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Building Science program at Toronto Metropolitan University, researching whole-life carbon reduction in new construction and building renovations.

Bofa‘s work experience is primarily in the built environment, working in the private and public sectors in roles that involve structural and environmental assessment of building structures, HVAC engineering design and sales, and facilities management. Bofa is a member of several industry associations, such as the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), the American Society for Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the Project Management Institute (PMI). SBC’s bursary will go a long way in supporting Bofa‘s research and his desire to learn.

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