Helping builders deliver high-performance homes without overcomplicating the process.
Rider Petch works with builders to turn energy codes, carbon targets and building science into clear, practical decisions that support better homes, stronger market positioning and smarter project costs.
Rider Petch
Registered Energy Advisor · Fluent Energy Consulting
Environmental expertise with a builder-first approach.
My background is in biology, environmental monitoring and impact mitigation. For more than two decades, I worked to protect natural systems through fisheries consulting, collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, and environmental work connected to an award-winning BC Hydro redevelopment project.
That experience led me to focus on the housing sector, where builders are being asked to deliver higher performance, lower carbon and better comfort while still controlling cost, schedule and complexity.
My role is to make that transition easier. I help builders understand what actually matters, where to spend, where not to overspend, and how to make design and construction decisions that move a project up the BC Energy Step Code and BC Zero Carbon Step Code efficiently.
Helping builders get ahead of the code.
Fluent Energy Consulting is built around a simple idea: high-performance homes should be easier to plan, easier to explain and easier to deliver. By getting involved early, I can help identify the most cost-effective path before expensive decisions are locked in.
The goal is not to add complexity to the project. It is to reduce uncertainty, avoid unnecessary upgrades, improve coordination between design and construction, and create a home that performs as intended.
A clearer path from design to compliance to market advantage.
Energy performance is becoming part of everyday residential construction. The builders who plan for it early have more control over cost, fewer surprises during compliance, and a stronger story to tell buyers.
Plan the right Step Code path
I help determine the most practical combination of envelope, windows, mechanical systems and airtightness targets to reach the required performance level without defaulting to expensive upgrades.
Make better decisions earlier
Early energy modelling gives the design and construction team useful feedback before drawings, specifications and equipment choices become difficult or costly to change.
Turn performance into a sales advantage
Better comfort, lower operating costs, improved indoor air quality and future-ready construction give builders a stronger value proposition in an increasingly competitive market.
Build for where the code is going, not just where it is today.
BC is moving toward increasingly stringent energy and carbon performance requirements. Builders who develop a repeatable high-performance approach now can reduce the learning curve, build internal confidence and position themselves ahead of competitors who wait until higher performance becomes mandatory.
Planning a higher-performance project?
If you are a builder, designer or architect looking for a practical way to improve energy performance, meet code requirements and control project costs, I would be happy to talk through the project.