Sustainability design standards for large buildings
Large supportive housing developments, such as those being constructed with funding from the Provincial Homelessness Initiative and the Aboriginal Housing Initiative are required to comply with the following sustainability design standards:

Built to LEED ™ Gold Standards: LEED™ stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a green rating system that provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Read an Introduction to LEED Gold. The info bulletins below provide tools and information for the LEED™ process:
- Energy Modeling: – Provides a background on what energy modeling means to housing providers and how energy modeling can be effectively used to evaluate buildings. Assists with LEED and the Integrated Design Process .
- LEED Construction Project Progress: Used to determine where a construction project should be in relation to LEED and incentive documentation through pre-design and construction.
- LEED for Housing Providers: Provides an understanding of what LEED means to housing providers, including FAQ’s and sample strategies that have been applied to previous BC Housing buildings.
- LEED Internal Checklist: Explains each of the BC Housing recommended LEED points to target, including how easy, medium or difficult each one is to achieve.
Designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions: All new social housing projects must meet the requirements of our High Performance Greenhouse Gas Neutral Strategy. It requires that projects meet a minimum energy performance target of approximately 50 per cent less than standard construction, and minimize the use of energy sources that are high in greenhouse gas emissions. More information.

Sustainability design standards for small buildings
In support of climate action and environmental initiatives, small single-unit buildings are required to reduce energy consumption through the EnerGuide 80 Rating System.

Provincial Plans and Legislation

Plans and legislation are in place to implement the Province of British Columbia's climate change strategy.
- The BC Energy Plan
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act
- Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement

livegreen Housing Sustainability Plan

BC Housing's livegreen Housing Sustainability Plan: 2012/13 is aligned with the provincial government’s climate change initiatives to move British Columbia toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.