Codes, Standards and Regulations in the Canadian Geothermal Heat Pump Industry

Montreal, June 1st, 2010

The CGC is pleased to announce the publication of a summary report of a national consultation conducted last year to assess the effectiveness of codes, standards and regulations in the Canadian geothermal heat pump industry.

At the beginning of 2009, and after having analyzed more than 4,500 requests for certification of geothermal systems as part of the CGC’s Global Quality GeoExchange Program, CGC personnel and accredited professionals identified several anomalies and weaknesses in the codes, standards and regulations affecting the geothermal industry in Canada. In the months following the implementation of its quality program, the CGC collected and continues to identify several contradictions in the current standards. There are also important omissions that slow and sometimes wholly block the introduction of new technologies in the marketplace. At the same time, officials from regulatory organizations and other public-sector parties, notably municipalities, are concerned about following the existing codes, standards and regulations.

In this context, and as part of its market transformation initiative and its efforts to consolidate the industry, the CGC organized a national consultation in June 2009 dealing with the regulatory issues affecting the geothermal industry in Canada. A total of seven intensive workshops were offered. Professionals accredited by the CGC and other industry players, in particular representatives of municipal and provincial governments, participated in these workshops. These sessions took place in Burnaby, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec City and Truro.

This report presents a summary of the seven workshops organized across Canada. CGC staff collected and organized the written comments of the participants into broad themes. Added to the participants’ written comments are notes and comments collected by the CGC personnel who led these meetings. These additional comments convey the general tone of the discussions. Certain conclusions and recommendations emerge from this analysis conducted by CGC personnel.

As a follow-up to this report, the CGC is now beginning summary work that will include an analysis of all of the comments received since the beginning of the market transformation process in 2007. Added to this summary will be an exhaustive list of problems encountered by the CGC during the technical analysis of more than 12,000 geothermal systems from 2007 to 2010.

The results of this in-depth analysis and specific recommendations will then be presented to the CGC Board of Directors for evaluation and direction. CGC staff has put together a preliminary report which contains more than 200 pages and includes 39 recommendations.

The Canadian GeoExchange™ Coalition acts as the industry catalyst to unite private and public sector stakeholders, and to expand the market for geoexchange™ technology in Canada. As the nexus of information, training, certification, industry standards and public awareness, CGC works with stakeholders to build the necessary infrastructure to foster the growth of the Canadian geoexchange™ industry. For more information, visit www.geo-exchange.ca



For inquiries please contact: Ted Kantrowitz (514) 807-7559, extension 34

Related Downloads

Download this press release (76.21 Kb)
Download the report of a National Consultation about Codes, Standards and Regulations in the Canadian GeoExchange Industry (410.38 Kb)

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