NRC to upgrade building codes,
specifications and guidelines to
address climate change challenges
Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer
The National Research Council (NRC) says it is health de-
veloping measures to protect Canadians from the conse-
quences of climate change on buildings and infrastructure.

“Canadian buildings and infrastructure are being more
and more challenged by the impacts of climate change and
an increase in extreme weather events such as damaging
floods and devastating high winds,” NRC says in a news
release. “In response to this new reality, the National Re-
search Council (NRC) along with Infrastructure Canada is
upgrading codes, specifications, guidelines, and assess-
ment tools to keep Canadians safe.”
The NRC says over the next five years it will conduct re-
search, evaluations, as well as risk analyses to develop
new solutions to factor climate resilience into the design
of future buildings and infrastructure in Canada. This in-
cludes houses, roads, bridges, water systems, and rapid
transit networks.

“With climate change, the total annual precipitation is
increasing, as well as the frequency and severity of ex-
treme events, such as heat waves, high winds, floods, and
22 – Spring 2017 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
droughts, all of which is resulting in increased stress on
built structures,” says Richard Tremblay, NRC’s general
manager of construction. “In 2017, it is a necessity to start
planning to adapt our buildings and infrastructure to with-
stand the new loads.”
The federal government is investing $40 million into
these efforts from the Investing in Canada plan, which pro-
vides more than $180 billion in infrastructure funding over
12 years. NRC says it will make full use of its leading ex-
perts as work gets underway in its world class research fa-
cilities in Ottawa. Several government departments and
industry leaders will be involved.

“I see this initiative on climate change adaptation as
having the potential to have a profound impact on the
Canadian construction industry and on the future of build-
ings in Canada,” says Doug Crawford, chair of the Cana-
dian Commission on Building and Fire Codes.

Once in effect, the new measures are expected to re-
duce the costs of rehabilitation and replacement of build-
ings and infrastructure affected by extreme weather
events. New specifications and guidelines will be ready
and released as soon as 2020, the NRC says.