This was the first meeting of the TG on Energy Storage System (ESS) and Electrical Vehicle (EV) Charging, which is chaired by Tony Crimi, a building and fire code consultant from Ontario who has been involved in code development for many decades. Many members of this Task Group are completely new to the code development system.

The TG reports to the National Model Code Committee on Fire and Life Safety. Its mandate is to investigate the potential fire and life safety hazards associated with installation and maintenance of Energy Storage System (e.g. home batteries) and the hazards associated with EV charging stations in different configurations (i.e. public and private buildings). The work of the TG is phased and will include general review of battery systems and their risk in homes and if the expansion of the scope is expanded the TG will also address the integration of batteries with solar PV systems and the manufacturing of ESS systems.

NRC staff presented the typical orientation slides for code committees. Some discussions occurred around achieving consensus and the need for members being constructive when they bring up negative aspects of a proposal and that the NRC Technical Advisors play a neutral role of providing advice, but not assessing consensus, which is the job of the chair person.

CHBA had co-submitted a Code Change Request (CCR 2057) to relocate requirements from the Electrical Code to the building code. The CCR is being triaged by the Board and is expected be handed down to the TG shortly.

For questions or more information, please contact frank.lohmann@chba.ca