{"id":13816,"date":"2025-01-27T11:57:56","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T11:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/?p=13816"},"modified":"2025-04-16T16:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T16:16:34","slug":"adoption-of-the-act-to-enact-the-act-respecting-the-environmental-performance-of-buildings-and-to-amend-various-provisions-regarding-energy-transition-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/adoption-of-the-act-to-enact-the-act-respecting-the-environmental-performance-of-buildings-and-to-amend-various-provisions-regarding-energy-transition-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Adoption of the Act to enact the Act respecting the environmental performance of buildings and to amend various provisions regarding energy transition: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident and the need for collective action grows more urgent, the recent adoption of the <\/span>Act to enact the Act respecting the environmental performance of buildings and to amend various provisions regarding energy transition<\/span><\/i> (the “<\/span>Act<\/b>“) represents a significant step forward. Assented to on March 27, 2024, the Act aims to decarbonize buildings in Qu\u00e9bec, which account for more than 9% of the province\u2019s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions1<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec’s commitments<\/b><\/p>\n

The adoption of this Act is part of the government’s action plan, which includes a target for carbon neutrality by 2050. In the short term, the province must, by 2030, reduce its GHG emissions by 37.5% from 1990 levels to meet its goals2<\/sup><\/span>. Specifically for the real estate sector, Qu\u00e9bec aims to reduce GHG emissions from building heating by 50% by 2030, again using 1990 as the baseline<\/span>3<\/sup>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Act<\/b><\/p>\n

The Act applies to both existing and new buildings4<\/sup><\/span>. It grants the government authority to establish regulations setting environmental performance standards to be met throughout a building\u2019s lifecycle5<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the Act, the environmental performance of a building is defined by various characteristics, including its carbon footprint, energy consumption and production, and equipment promoting sustainable mobility6<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mandatory declaration<\/u><\/p>\n

The Act imposes an obligation on building owners, among others, to report information related to the environmental performance of their building. This includes data on energy consumption, location, area, how it is used, materials used during construction work, installed equipment and components, and the name and contact information of the owner. The Act also mentions the establishment of a public digital platform that will allow energy consumption data to be transferred by an energy distributor to the building\u2019s owner7<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Environmental rating<\/u><\/p>\n

The government will also have the authority to establish regulations determining which buildings will receive an environmental rating and the methods for assessing this rating. In certain cases, buildings will be required to display and disclose their assigned environmental rating8<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owners may apply for a review of their building’s rating if necessary9<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sanctions<\/u><\/p>\n

While Minister Benoit Charette states that the obligations will be voluntary during the first few years10<\/sup><\/span>, the Act includes provisions for administrative, financial and penal sanctions in the event of non-compliance with mandatory declarations or the failure to disclose and display the environmental performance rating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n

The focus on energy consumption transparency and the strengthening of governmental powers are central aspects of the Act. At this time, the scope of the Act remains somewhat vague, and it will be clarified as regulations are adopted in the coming years. However, one thing is clear: the impact on the real estate sector will be significant, and it is crucial to prepare for the forthcoming changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our team is available if you have any questions or require further details.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Ma\u00efka Dion-Test<\/a><\/p>\n

_______________________________<\/p>\n

1<\/sup> French only <\/b>Cabinet du ministre de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs, news “Projet de loi no 41 sur la performance environnementale des b\u00e2timents – Les consultations en commission parlementaire commencent au moment o\u00f9 Qu\u00e9bec annonce son intention d’encadrer l’utilisation du gaz naturel” (January 30, 2024), online<\/span> <<\/span>https:\/\/www.quebec.ca\/nouvelles\/actualites\/details\/projet-de-loi-no-41-sur-la-performance-environnementale-des-batiments-les-consultations-en-commission-parlementaire-debutent-au-moment-<\/span><\/a>or-quebec-announces-its-intent-to-frame-natural-gas-use-53388<\/span><\/a> >
\n<\/span>2<\/sup> Ibid.
\n<\/span><\/i>3<\/sup> Ibid.
\n<\/i> 4 French only <\/b>” Audition sur le projet de loi n\u00b0 41, Loi \u00e9dictant la Loi sur la performance environnementale des b\u00e2timents et modifiant diverses dispositions en mati\u00e8re de transition \u00e9nerg\u00e9tique “, Assembl\u00e9e nationale, S\u00e9ance de commission<\/i>, (30 janvier 2024) \u00e0 9h44, online (video) < https:\/\/www.assnat.qc.ca\/fr\/video-audio\/archives-parlementaires\/travaux-commissions\/AudioVideo-102545.html<\/a> >
\n5<\/sup> PL 41, An Act to enact An Act respecting the environmental performance of buildings and to amend various provisions respecting energy transition<\/i>, 1st Sess, 43rd Leg, Qu\u00e9bec, 2024 (assented to March 27, 2024).
\n6<\/sup> Supra, note 5, art.1
\n7 <\/sup>Supra, note 5, Art.4
\n8 <\/sup><\/i>Supra, note 5, Art. 5 et seq.
\n9 <\/sup><\/i> <\/span>Supra, note 5, Art.7
\n<\/span>10 <\/i><\/span>St\u00e9phane Blais<\/span>Les municipalit\u00e9s craignent que le projet de loi empi\u00e8te sur l’autonomie des villes”, La Presse [de Montr\u00e9al]<\/span><\/i> (January 30, 2024), online: <https:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/actualites\/politique\/2024-01-30\/performance-environnementale-des-batiments\/les-municipalites-craignent-que-le-projet-de-loi-empiete-sur-l-autonomie-des-villes.php<\/a>><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident and the need for collective action grows more urgent, the recent adoption of the Act to enact the Act respecting the environmental performance of buildings and to amend various provisions regarding energy transition (the “Act“) represents a significant step forward. Assented to on March 27, 2024, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-law"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13816"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13928,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions\/13928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gascon.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}