A year ago, we brought building industry leaders and government officials together to launch the Emissions-Neutral Buildings Information Exchange (ENBIX).
ENBIX is a collaborative initiative of Alberta Ecotrust Foundation that aims to accelerate the transition to an emissions-neutral built environment. Since its launch, ENBIX has grown into a vital hub for Alberta’s building industry, connecting industry professionals, sharing knowledge, and building capacity to address the unique challenges of decarbonizing new and existing buildings in Alberta.
As we celebrate ENBIX’s first anniversary, we reflect on the progress made over the past year, the milestones achieved, and the collaborations that have driven us forward. From hosting events and creating resources to expanding our reach to smaller communities across Alberta, ENBIX continues to support the industry in advancing sustainable building practices.
Here’s a look at what we’ve accomplished together and what lies ahead.
Table of Contents
ENBIX’s first year at a glance
Developed key partnerships
ENBIX is led and guided by the industry to ensure that all decisions reflect the realities of the Alberta building, construction and renovation market and its needs. Industry collaboration and partnerships have been essential to our success, and ENBIX was launched as a result of collaboration among various organizations, including the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, and the Calgary Construction Association.
The Smart Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Association (SSRIA) also played a key role in the program’s launch, and in April 2024, we partnered with them to help advance our goals. Since then, we’ve combined our efforts, drawing on SSRIA’s expertise in innovative low-carbon building practices to support Alberta’s shift toward emissions-neutral buildings. Together, we have co-hosted events that highlight real and practical solutions to support sustainable building practices throughout the province.
In September 2024, we joined forces with the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) Alberta Hub to address embodied carbon, which is the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with building materials. Together, we’ve co-hosted webinars and events and shared practical knowledge to help Alberta’s building industry better understand and reduce these emissions.Â
Hosted and amplified industry events
Since launching, ENBIX has played an active role in fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing within Alberta’s building industry by hosting and amplifying in-person events and virtual webinars and sessions. We created and continue to actively maintain an industry event calendar that allows anyone in the building industry to add their own events.
Here are some event highlights from the last year:
- We hosted 35 events, webinars and communities of practice. These events engaged nearly 1,000 professionals from diverse fields, including engineering, design and architecture, construction, planning and development, education, and local government.
- In addition, the ENBIX team participated in and partnered on 50 industry convenings, including panel discussions, training sessions, virtual events, forums and workshops, collectively reaching over 3,000 people. These engagements focused on timely and impactful topics, such as affordability in housing and construction, high-performance building envelope strategies, mechanical contractor training, embodied carbon and deep energy retrofits.
Developed and featured industry resources
ENBIX aims to provide resources that help the building industry make informed decisions on constructing and renovating emissions-neutral buildings in Alberta. Since our launch, we’ve developed a digital resource library, collaborating with industry professionals to publish and share over 60 resources. These materials are accessible to anyone and offer insights that range from foundational knowledge for those who are new to the building industry, to more advanced content for experienced professionals.
Some resources we developed this year include:
High-performance building envelope models
In collaboration with SAIT and Beyond Code, we developed physical and digital high-performance building envelope models to help industry professionals improve home airtightness, comfort, and affordability. These resources, including interactive 3D models, are being shared through workshops and events across Alberta. Read more here.
Report on heat pumps and high-performance homes during Alberta’s cold snap
We supported Passive House Alberta in evaluating how heat pumps and high-performance homes performed during Alberta’s extreme cold snap in early 2024. Read our summary of the report here.
Blog outlining updates to Alberta’s building codes
We compiled key details and resources about Alberta’s building code changes, highlighting their impact on emissions-neutral building construction. Read more here.
Case study on a sustainable municipal building
Our case study highlights the Yellowhead County Administration Building, an example of sustainable building design in rural Alberta. This municipal building integrates renewable energy and energy-efficient strategies to reduce emissions and sets a precedent for future building development. Read the case study here.
Built communities of practice
In the last year, ENBIX has established and grown six communities of practice. These formal and informal communities are groups designed to bring interested parties together to discuss and solve challenges collaboratively. Each one focuses on important issues in the emissions-neutral building industry and has its own goal and operational plan.
Calgary & Edmonton Communities
We have two communities that offer events and gatherings that are open to anyone in our major cities:
- Calgary:Â The ENBIX Calgary community kicked off in February 2024 with follow-up events in May and September of this year. Each event has brought in a diverse audience to discuss relevant building challenges and opportunities.
- Edmonton:Â In November 2024, we brought Edmonton’s building industry together to address residential affordability challenges. Building on this momentum, we will host multiple events in Edmonton next year, with our first event planned for early in 2025.
- Â
Municipal Administrators
Our Municipal Administrators community meets monthly and has grown to include eight municipalities, ranging from small communities to our large cities, Calgary and Edmonton.
Training Alliance
We formed the Training Alliance in August 2024 to bring training institutions and organizations together to help develop training that supports the construction of emissions-neutral buildings.
Codes Acceleration Fund Recipients
We have connected recipients of the Codes Acceleration Fund through a community of practice to foster collaboration and minimize duplication of efforts.
Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) Alberta
The Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) Alberta includes a volunteer-run community of practice hosted by ENBIX. Together, we are working to create more events related to embodied carbon and engage a growing volunteer network.
You can learn more about our communities of practice here and reach out to us if you’d like to join an existing one or create a new one.
Received additional funding to reach more communities across Alberta
Earlier this year, we received $1.4 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Codes Acceleration Fund to expand our efforts. This funding allowed us to begin working toward reducing emissions from buildings in smaller urban centers and rural communities across Alberta, areas where nearly half the province’s population lives. Over the coming two and a half years, we will continue these efforts by assessing energy code compliance, supporting municipalities, creating tailored resources, addressing training gaps, enhancing post-secondary curriculum, and hosting local industry events focussed on the challenges of smaller urban centers and rural communities. Read our blog about this expansion here.
What the building industry is saying about ENBIX
Looking ahead
As we look ahead, we are committed to continuing our efforts to collaborate with the building industry and advance emissions-neutral and sustainable building practices across Alberta. Achieving this goal requires collective action, and we are grateful for the partnerships and collaborations that make this work possible.Â
In the coming year, we plan to focus on:
- Expanding our reach to support more small urban and rural communities across Alberta.
- Taking our high-performance wall assemblies on the road across Alberta.
- Expanding our events and resources to include more focus on embodied carbon in partnership with the Carbon Leadership Forum Alberta Hub.
- Developing, supporting and delivering new training to enhance workforce growth.
