Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has maintained an interest in building commissioning for at least the past two decades, owing to the potential for this practice to enable buildings to perform more efficiently and reduce their associated climate change impacts.

Despite its benefits, existing building commissioning (EBCx) continues to be an underutilized practice, and many Canadian building owners and operators are thus missing this savings opportunity. In response to a commitment in Build Smart, Canada's Buildings Strategy, NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency created and launched an EBCx Working Group to develop an EBCx Framework to serve as a model blueprint for increasing the number of EBCx projects across Canada.

The EBCx Working Group, co-chaired by NRCan and a representative from BC Hydro, has representatives from across Canada, including provincial and territorial governments, municipal governments, utilities, academia, commissioning professionals, and the buildings industry, in addition to the federal government. The EBCx Framework outlines a series of key actions that organizations and jurisdictions could utilize to increase the uptake of EBCx projects across Canada.

We hope that American conference attendees will also gain insights from this collaborative Canadian approach to developing the Framework and the key actions it has identified.