New townhome and multiplex listings in Abbotsford increasingly advertise a BC Energy Step Code number, usually Step 3 or Step 4, usually with no explanation attached.
Here is the short version. Step 3 is the legal minimum, so a listing advertising it is telling you it met code. Step 4 is one level above that. The comfort and utility-bill differences are real but modest. The larger financial difference is on the financing side, where the right paperwork can be worth several thousand dollars in cash back, and where a lot of buyers leave that money unclaimed because nobody told them to apply.
Step 3 versus Step 4
Since May 1, 2023, Step 3 has been the provincial minimum for new Part 9 residential buildings, which covers houses, duplexes, townhomes and other small residential buildings. Abbotsford follows the provincial requirement. Step 3 represents roughly 20 per cent better energy performance than the previous base-code benchmark. Step 4 is described by the province as roughly 40 per cent better. Step 5, the top of the scale, is net-zero-energy-ready, and the province’s stated target is to get all new construction there by 2032.
Abbotsford also requires Emissions Level 1 of the Zero Carbon Step Code for permits applied for after March 10, 2025. EL-1 requires a project to calculate and report its operational greenhouse gas emissions. It does not require the builder to eliminate natural gas or install any particular heating system, so it is a disclosure requirement rather than a performance one.
The Step Code is a performance standard, not a prescription. It sets targets for the finished building and lets the design team decide how to hit them, which is why two Step 4 homes can be built quite differently. Compliance is verified by a registered energy advisor or qualified energy modeller, with airtightness confirmed by physical testing depending on the compliance path used. The Step Code is primarily intended for new construction; renovations and additions are treated differently, and the requirements depend on the scope of work.
What it is worth: CMHC Eco Plus
This is the part with real money in it.
If you buy a newly built home with a CMHC-insured mortgage and the home meets CMHC’s energy efficiency requirements, CMHC refunds 25 per cent of your mortgage loan insurance premium, paid directly to you.
Insurance premiums are set by loan-to-value: 4.00 per cent of the mortgage at 5 per cent down, 3.10 per cent at 10 per cent down, and 2.80 per cent at 15 per cent down. British Columbia does not charge PST on the premium. Applied to a $700,000 townhome, that works out to:
Down payment |
Mortgage |
Insurance premium |
25% Eco Plus refund |
$35,000 (5%) |
$665,000 |
$26,600 |
$6,650 |
$70,000 (10%) |
$630,000 |
$19,530 |
$4,883 |
$105,000 (15%) |
$595,000 |
$16,660 |
$4,165 |
Note that the refund is larger the smaller your down payment, because it is a percentage of a premium that itself rises as your down payment falls. This is one of the few programs that pays out most to the buyers with the least cash.
Two practical points. The application goes to CMHC directly, not through your lender, and you have two years from your closing date to submit it. Processing currently runs about eight to ten weeks. And you need the supporting document, which is either an eligible certificate or your energy consumption rating.
The qualification most townhome buyers do not know about
There are two ways to qualify with CMHC. One is an energy consumption rating at least 20 per cent lower than a typical new home under Natural Resources Canada’s EnerGuide Rating System. The other is holding an eligible certification from CMHC’s published list.
On that list, the BC Energy Step Code appears twice: once for Part 3 buildings at Steps 2 through 4, and once for Part 9 homes at Steps 3 through 5, where it is specified as detached homes.
That distinction matters if you are buying an attached townhome, because the Step Code entry on CMHC’s certification list does not obviously cover you even when the development is genuinely built to Step 4. It does not mean you are out. Your route is more likely the EnerGuide consumption rating, another certification on CMHC’s list such as Built Green or ENERGY STAR, or one of the other two insurers, since Sagen and Canada Guaranty run their own energy-efficient programs with their own criteria.
The practical step is the same either way. Do not treat “built to Step 4” in a listing as confirmation that the rebate is yours. Ask the builder which document you will actually receive, ask your lender which insurer will back your file, and confirm eligibility before you count the money.
The RBC Green Home Mortgage
RBC’s Green Home Mortgage finances new, pre-construction homes in certified energy-efficient developments. RBC’s program terms name BC Energy Step Code Step 4 for Part 9 homes and Step 3 for Part 3 buildings among the certifications commonly eligible under the program, alongside ENERGY STAR for New Homes, LEED Canada for Homes at Gold or Platinum, and CHBA Net Zero and Net Zero Ready.
RBC’s terms also allow a second route to eligibility: a home that achieves, on third-party assessment, greenhouse gas emissions performance in the top 15 per cent of its city. So a development without a listed certification is not automatically excluded.
Either way, the home has to be purchased from an accredited RBC Preferred Builder that has given RBC evidence the home will be certified. This is a development-level question rather than something a buyer can arrange independently, so ask early whether the project is registered and whether it has designated RBC specialists attached to it. Where a builder has set this up in advance, the paperwork side is considerably easier.
The headline benefit is the option to extend amortization to up to 35 years, versus 30 on a traditional mortgage. RBC notes this is subject to eligibility and that a longer amortization can mean higher total interest over the life of the loan. Worth asking your specialist directly how the extended amortization interacts with mortgage default insurance in your situation, because insured and uninsured files are not treated the same way and the answer determines whether this benefit is actually available to you.
RBC also allows the cost of energy-efficient upgrades to be included in the purchase price being financed in some cases, which is worth asking about if the builder offers an upgrade package.
RBC also points buyers to the 25 per cent insurance premium rebate, which can come through CMHC Eco Plus, the Sagen Energy Efficient Housing Program, or the Canada Guaranty Energy-Efficient Advantage Program depending on which insurer backs your mortgage. Depending on the program it may arrive as a refund after closing or as an upfront discount on the premium.
What it saves on your utility bill
A more efficient home uses less energy. Turning that into a dollar figure requires the specific home’s numbers, and you can get them.
Every new Part 9 home in BC is modelled by a registered energy advisor, and that model produces an estimated annual energy consumption. Ask the builder for the as-built Step Code compliance documentation, plus any EnerGuide label or report issued for the individual unit. For townhome projects, note that compliance may be documented for the building or row rather than each unit, so ask specifically what applies to yours.
Once you have the modelled annual consumption, the arithmetic is simple. BC Hydro’s residential rate is tiered, running roughly 11 cents per kWh on the first block and about 14 cents above it, so most households can use something in that range as a working figure. A home that uses 2,000 kWh per year less than a comparable one saves in the neighbourhood of $240 a year at those rates, or roughly $6,000 over 25 years before accounting for future rate increases. If gas is involved, run the heating portion against FortisBC rates separately.
Two honest caveats. Step 4 being 40 per cent better than base code does not mean your bill is 40 per cent lower, because the Step Code metrics cover space heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water rather than everything on your bill. And modelled consumption assumes modelled behaviour; your actual use will vary.
The scale is worth keeping in perspective. On these numbers the utility savings are real but gradual, while the Eco Plus refund is several thousand dollars in the first two years. If you only have energy to chase one of them, chase the refund.
What Step 4 costs to build
Buyers often assume a higher Step number means a meaningfully higher price. The evidence suggests otherwise for multi-unit wood-frame construction.
The province’s 2017 Energy Step Code metrics research modelled a row-house archetype achieving Step 4 for less than a two per cent incremental capital cost in Climate Zones 4 through 6. Abbotsford is in Climate Zone 4.
That research is now several years old and construction costs have moved considerably, and the modelling assumed energy performance was designed in from the start rather than retrofitted late. Smaller detached homes and quadplex-style buildings showed higher premiums, as did colder climate zones. The takeaway is not a precise number, but the direction: on townhome and row-house projects in this region, Step 4 has generally been an incremental design decision rather than a large cost jump.
What to ask before you buy
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What Step of the BC Energy Step Code is this home built to, and what Emissions Level does it meet?
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Can I see the as-built Step Code compliance documentation for this specific unit or row?
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Will I receive an EnerGuide label or report, and what is the modelled annual energy consumption?
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Which document will I use to apply for CMHC Eco Plus, and has anyone here successfully claimed it on this development?
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Is the development registered with a lender green-mortgage program, and which one?
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What heating and cooling system is installed, and is there heat recovery ventilation?