CALGARY — Windowless bedrooms in multi-family buildings don’t pose a safety threat to dwellers or detract from Calgary’s goal of being “socially inclusive,” according to a new city report.

In June, city council directed administration to investigate safety, societal and urban design issues concerning multi-storey, residential buildings with windowless bedrooms — an entirely legal practice under current building codes.

But the report fails to address the important role sunlight has on “good psychological health,” says one city council member.

“The one area that the report doesn’t address is the availability of natural light,” said Ald. Gord Lowe, a member of the Calgary Planning Commission. “If you read anything particularly for those of us who live in a northern climate, in the winter natural light is an important thing.”

Changes to the provincial safety code in 2006 allow for the construction of suites with windowless bedrooms in residential buildings four storeys or higher. However, there must be a sprinkler system installed throughout the building, including all bedrooms, as well as a proper ventilation system.

Additionally, Calgary’s fire department said a bedroom window on a fourth floor is not an appropriate emergency exit.

Lowe and Ald. Druh Farrell said the concern is less about safety and more about quality of life.

“If we want to encourage people living in multi-family (units) we need to provide a high quality of life and that we’re not simply warehousing people,” said Farrell, who also sits on the planning commission.

However, getting people into multi-family units requires an approach that must consider several factors, such as privacy and natural lighting.

“We haven’t somehow incorporated those basics into how we design our multi-family communities,” she said.

In a letter to the city, the director of government affairs for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, Amie Blanchette, said “the market should then rule the desire to have windows in a highrise bedroom.”

Farrell calls the market solution argument a red herring.

“We hear that with community design as well,” she said. “For example with tree-lined streets, the market very clearly has said that it wants tree-lined streets and yet we haven’t been providing it.”

The report notes there “may be a negative impact” from a design standpoint if the lack of windows on a building wall does not “enhance the visual and functional connection” between the building and the surroundings.

Council does have several options if it wants to pursue changes to the codes:

• Advocate for a ministerial order requiring windows in all bedrooms;

• Order city administration to pursue changes to the National Building Code, which are set to be updated in 2015; and

• The creation of a city charter could allow the city to establish its own building safety rules.