Important Update on Government Affairs Issues from HPBA Canada

HPBA Canada Voice - Government Affairs Update

June 2012

Napoleon Fireplaces and Grills

New Brunswick's New Solid Fuel Regulation

Thank you to Dave Lively and the Atlantic Chapter for spearheading these activities and providing this update.

On June 7th, 2012 the New Brunswick Department of Energy passed regulation #95-70 for solid fuel appliances with an effective date of June 1, 2012. It was created a number of years ago and has been waiting for implementation since the year 2000.

The regulation had been based on CSA B415.1-00, a standard that regulates solid fuel appliances to a cap of 7.5gr/hr emissions or less.
CSA B415.1-00 also provided for an exemption for all solid fuel appliances that are central systems, cook stoves, masonry heaters and decorative wood fireplaces with a minimum burn rate in excess of 5kh/hr and appliances that had a greater than 35:1 air to fuel ratio ( example - pellet stoves).
Essentially this is the standard that EPA set its minimum emissions rate to of < or = 7.5gr/hr
This NB regulation does not allow appliances that have been manufactured later than June 1, 2012 that do not meet the standard to be shipped or sold to the public after this date. However, appliances manufactured prior to June 1, 2012 and ordered prior to June 1, 2012 can be sold.
Efficiency New Brunswick will continue to offer a rebate program to consumers on all appliances purchased which have emissions of =<4.5gr/hr. This emission standard is expected to be adopted by EPA over the next 13-15 months through the NSPS process and the New Brunswick DOE regulation 95-70 will likely be adapted to the new EPA standard.

If you have information on regulation, codes and standards revisions or other Government Affairs issues in the Atlantic provinces please contact Dave Lively dlively@sbi-international.com or Tony Gottschalk tonyhpbac@bellnet.ca

National Building Code (NBC) 2012

Tony Gottschalk attended the June 8th technical research committee meeting of the Canadian Home Builders Association in Ottawa which focused on the 2012 National Building Code where he was able to meet with several key people involved in the code writing process.

HPBA Canada responded during the public review stage of the new 2012 NB Code offering suggested revisions to the following areas of concern for the industry:

Regarding the issue of Minimum Efficiencies

Fireplace efficiency was one of the most contentious issue the Technical Research Committee faced. In the end they were persuaded to leave out any minimum efficiency requirements pending the conclusion of the P.4 revision process.

Proposed requirement of ignition systems

The requirement now proposed is that standing pilot lights will not be allowed. Gas fireplaces will have to be direct vent and have intermittent electronic ignition or pilot on demand systems with automatic shut off after so many days of non-use.

Because the requirement for automatic shut-off is too technology-specific, HPBAC has recommend to the committee that they drop the auto shut off requirement, and instead use the PoD definition from the NR Can website, which is based on the definition in P.4.

Pilot on Demand - a pilot system that provides the user with a ready means of initiating the automatic ignition and extinguishment of a pilot ignition source. The pilot system includes a device that is external to the gas safety combination control and does not require direct interaction with the gas safety combination control by the user. The device to initiate pilot ignition and extinguishment is usually mounted in a location external to the appliance controls compartment or is contained in a remote control device.

Regarding Continuity of Insulation

As this item has current relevance in the province of Quebec, please see details in the article below.

Continuity of Insulation - NBC & Quebec

Recently HPBA Canada was made aware of an insulation requirement within the proposed new Québec building code. This, we believe comes from the original 2010 National Building Code (NBC) wording. A formal response concerning this issue was provided during the official comment period. It is anticipated that with the recently agreed upon changes to the wording, it should through adoption fix any provincial or territorial codes.

The proposed new wording 9.36.2.5.(1) can be seen below.

1) Except for balcony slabs or canopy slabs as permitted by Sentence 9.36.2.4 (3) and except as provided in Sentences (2) to (87) and for clearances required for reasons of fire safety, interior building components that meet building envelope components and major structural members that partly penetrate the building envelope shall not break the continuity of the insulation and shall not decrease the effective thermal resistance at their projected area to less than that required in Articles9.36.2.6. and 9.36.2.8. (See Appendix A.)[this now references B149]

Daniel Olivier from APC points out the issue of chimney insulation is a chronic problem and we will probably put this on the agenda for our next National Government Affairs Committee meeting.

If you have items that the you are concerned about and would like the support of HPBA Canada and our Government Affairs committee please contact Tony Gottschalk at tonyhpbac@bellnet.ca

Why we need your help!

As a member of HPBA Canada you have access to information from across Canada collected and coordinated by members and staff. Without the help of members our Government Affairs efforts would be severely limited. We need everyone to help us monitor and identify industry issues at all levels - municipal, regional and national early in the process of regulation, codes and standards development and revision and bylaw development.

It is always easier to prevent harmful regulation than to change it, and a precedent set at the local level can trigger widespread consequences. If you hear anything that concerns you please let us know:

Western Chapter - Jason Meyer jason.meyer@hearthandhomefireplaces.com

Central Chapter - Craig Gutowski - craig@thefoundry.ca

Atlantic Chapter - Dave Lively - dlively@sbi-international.com
Tony Gottschalk - tonyhpbac@bellnet.ca

In This Issue

New Brunswick New Sold Fuel Regulation

National Building Code 2012

Continuity of Insulation

Why we need your help!