and the value of the green building materials market is expected to reach $234 billion by 2019. British Columbia is already a green building design and construction leader, boasting some of highest-performing buildings in North America. Almost 12,000 people work in green architecture and related construction services in BC, while close to 9,000 work in clean energy services. The BC Energy Step Code could open up new local economic development opportunities, and helps unlock a significant export opportunity. At a November 2017 conference, an assistant deputy minister with the Province of British Columbia's Office of Housing and Construction Standards called the BC Energy Step Code "a driver of the clean economy." Geographic availability The BC Energy Step Code is available to communities to all climate zones across the province for Part 9 buildings, and only to Climate Zone 4 (Lower Mainland and South Vancouver Island) for Part 3 buildings. Future iterations of the standard will increase coverage to all types and all areas. All British Columbia local governments except the City of Vancouver may reference and enforce the BC Energy Step Code in their policies and bylaws. The City of Vancouver has its own building code, and its own high-performance buildings strategy, the Zero Emissions Building Plan. B.C. local governments referencing the standard As of a March 2019 survey of 76 local governments, 14 local governments reported that they had implemented the BC Energy Step Code, and 17 local governments reported they were in the process of implementing at the time of the survey. Related Canadian Policies In August 2017, British Columbia joined Canada's federal government, represented by Natural Resources Canada, and other provinces and territories in endorsing the Build Smart: Canada's Buildings Strategy, which is a "key driver" of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The strategy commits signatories to develop and adopt increasingly stringent model building codes, starting in 2020, with the goal that provinces and territories adopt a "net-zero energy ready" model building code by 2030. In British Columbia, the BC Energy Step Code serves as a technical policy pathway for British Columbia to deliver on that goal. As of mid-2018, the only other tiered building standard in Canada's is the Toronto Green Standard, which establishes sustainable design requirements for new private and public developments in that city. The Toronto Green Standard consists of stepped levels of performance measures with supporting guidelines that promote