Building to Net-Zero Request for Proposals
Voluntary Green Development Standards training, design, and development.
ICLEI Canada is seeking consultants to support the Building to Net-Zero (BNZ) Municipal Cohort through the delivery of tailored training and the facilitation of a collaborative design process to develop draft voluntary Green Development Standards (GDS) for participating municipalities. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with 12 small- and mid-sized municipalities from across Canada—supporting them in designing practical, context-specific GDS that can be refined and brought forward for council consideration.
BNZ is a four-year training and capacity-building project designed to support municipalities in the adoption of building energy performance frameworks. Through the BNZ project, municipalities, community partners, and industry experts are working collaboratively to identify and overcome municipalities’ unique adoption challenges, outlining a clear pathway towards net-zero building energy.
Voluntary GDS have emerged as a priority strategy for many cohort members. These standards, when tailored to the local policy and development context, offer a flexible pathway for encouraging sustainable design in new construction. ICLEI Canada is seeking a consultant to work with BNZ cohort members to build capacity and create voluntary GDS tailored to their local contexts by:
- Delivering 1-2virtual training sessions on GDS fundamentals, including effective incentive-based models and implementation considerations;
- Facilitating a collaborative design workshop (in-person or hybrid) for the full cohort;
- Co-developing draft GDS documents for each participating cohort member;
- Providing recommendations for incentive and implementation approaches to each cohort member; and,
- Providing one-on-one advisory sessions to each participating cohort member to review their draft GDS and suggested implementation strategy.
Deliverables will be phased between January 2026 and March 2027, with a maximum contract value of CAD $200,000 (inclusive of HST). Proposals are due September 26, 2025.
For more details on deliverables, eligibility, and proposal requirements, download the full RFP.
The BNZ project is funded by Natural Resource Canada’s Codes Acceleration Fund.
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