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MLI Select

MLI Select energy points, explained.

The category that rewards engineering decisions rather than revenue concessions. It is also the category most often left until the drawings are already frozen.

Halftone illustration of a low rise rental apartment building with a landscaped courtyard.

Two different measurement bases

Energy scoring works differently depending on whether the building exists. On an existing building, performance is measured as a percentage reduction against what the building consumes and emits today. On new construction, it is measured as a percentage better than the national energy code baseline. Same category, entirely different arithmetic, and mixing the two up is how a project ends up chasing a tier it was never positioned for.

The practical asymmetry is that an older building with poor mechanical systems has a generous baseline to improve from, while a new building is measured against a code that is already reasonably efficient. Retrofitting a 1970s walk up to a 25% reduction is often achievable with work that pays for itself in operating cost. Designing a new build 50% better than code is a real engineering programme with real capital attached.

The thresholds

Energy contributes up to 50 points, which on its own is enough to qualify a file.

Existing buildings

Reduction in energy use and emissions against current performance.

  • 15% reduction earns 20 points
  • 25% reduction earns 35 points
  • 40% reduction earns 50 points

New construction

Performance measured against the national energy code baseline.

  • At least 25 percent better than NECB Tier 1, or 20 percent better than NBC Tier 1, earns 20 points
  • At least 50 percent better than NECB, or 40 percent better than NBC, earns 35 points
  • At least 60 percent better than NECB, or 70 percent better than NBC, earns 50 points

Source: CMHC, MLI Select. Checked September 23, 2026.

On existing buildings this is frequently the category that carries the file, because the affordability thresholds on an existing asset are steep. On new construction, energy usually tops up a score that affordability has already largely built.

Why the modelling decides the score

Certified energy modelling is required, and CMHC has attestation standards the report has to meet. A model is not a formality attached to the submission. It is the evidence the points rest on, and its quality varies enormously between practitioners.

Two failures recur. The first is a modeller who has not done CMHC work before, producing a report that either scores the building below what it genuinely achieves or comes back for rework, which on an insured timeline costs weeks. The second, and the more expensive one, is timing. When the modeller arrives after the drawings are frozen, the report can only measure decisions already made. Glazing ratio, envelope assembly, mechanical selection and heat recovery are all cheap to change on paper and costly to change on site.

Bring the modeller in at concept stage. That single sequencing change is the biggest practical lesson in this category, and it routinely moves a project a full tier for a fraction of what the same tier costs when bought late through equipment upgrades.

BC incentives change the tier decision

Where a higher tier needs energy work to reach it, CleanBC and BC Hydro incentives can offset part of that upgrade cost, which sometimes changes the answer. A heat pump programme, envelope improvement or ventilation upgrade evaluated on gross capital cost can look like a poor trade for 15 extra points, and then look obvious once the incentive is applied.

So the tier decision should be run net of incentives, and it should be run before the design is committed rather than after. The comparison that matters is the after incentive cost of the upgrade against the value of the additional points in loan proceeds, premium discount and amortization. On a building of any scale that second number is usually larger than owners expect.

Code baseline

Since October 1, 2026, new construction is scored against the 2020 codes.

CMHC accepted energy attestations under the 2015 National Building Code and 2017 National Energy Code for Buildings until September 30, 2026. New construction is now scored against the 2020 versions of both codes, which are more efficient baselines, so the same design earns fewer energy points than it would have before. Model against the 2020 baseline from concept stage, underwrite the project to work at the 70 point tier in case 100 is out of reach, and price CleanBC and BC Hydro incentives into the upgrade decision. If your file was attested under the older codes before the deadline, confirm with your lender how it is being treated.

Estimate your points

FAQ

Energy scoring questions we hear most

As a percentage reduction against the building's current performance. A 15% reduction earns 20 points, 25% earns 35 and 40% earns 50. Because older buildings start from a poor baseline, the early tiers are often reachable with mechanical and envelope work you were considering anyway.

Against the national energy code baseline rather than against an existing building. At least 25 percent better than NECB Tier 1, or 20 percent better than NBC Tier 1, earns 20 points. At least 50 percent better than NECB, or 40 percent better than NBC, earns 35 points. At least 60 percent better than NECB, or 70 percent better than NBC, earns 50 points.

Yes. Certified energy modelling is required and CMHC has attestation standards the report has to meet. Modellers unfamiliar with those standards produce reports that score lower than the building deserves, or get sent back for rework.

At concept stage, not at submission. This is the single biggest practical lesson on the energy category. Once drawings are frozen, the achievable score is already fixed and the report only measures it.

Yes. CleanBC and BC Hydro incentives can offset part of the upgrade cost, which sometimes changes whether a higher tier is worth reaching for. We model the tier decision net of incentives rather than on gross capital cost.

The 2020 National Building Code and 2020 National Energy Code for Buildings. CMHC accepted attestations under the older 2015 and 2017 codes until September 30, 2026. The newer codes are more efficient, so the same design earns fewer energy points than it would have under the older baseline.
Keep reading

Keep going on MLI Select

MLI Select programThe parent explainer: all three point categories, the tiers and what they buy.Affordability pointsThe heaviest category, the thresholds, and setting rents the building can live at.New constructionWhere energy performance is a design decision rather than a retrofit.CMHC financing in BCHow insured financing works, premiums, and insured versus conventional.

Let's score the building properly.

Send the drawings or the capital plan. We will tell you which energy tier is reachable and what it is worth in proceeds before anyone spends money on it.

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