Five projects receive federal backing to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions
The Canadian government has announced an investment of $4.3 million to support five energy retrofitting projects aimed at reducing emissions and enhancing energy efficiency in buildings across the country.
The initiative, funded through the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program (GNPP) and the Energy Innovation Program (EIP), will help accelerate deep energy retrofits in various regions.
One of the projects benefitting from the funding is in Gloucester's Carver Place neighbourhood, where EnviroCentre received over $2 million to help improve social housing. The project will make homes more energy-efficient by upgrading insulation, replacing traditional furnaces with electric heat pumps, and installing heat recovery ventilation systems.
"By retrofitting buildings across the country, we can make communities more resilient to climate-related impacts while reducing emissions and utility bills for Canadians, increasing energy efficiency and creating good-paying jobs in construction and maintenance," Julie Dabrusin, parliamentary secretary to the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and Natural Resources.
Other projects include funding for retrofits in Atlantic Canada, Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan, and social housing across Ontario. The Retrofit Canada Society also received support to create a national repository of case studies and solutions to inform future deep energy retrofits across the country.
Canada’s building sector is the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, making retrofitting a priority. Deep energy retrofits, which typically involve extensive upgrades like replacing heating systems with electric heat pumps and improving insulation, can reduce a building’s energy consumption by at least 50%, slash emissions by 80%, and significantly lower utility costs.
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The federal government has committed more than $10 billion since 2016 to decarbonize homes and buildings through retrofits. Through the GNPP, which is piloting the Energiesprong model, Canada is working to aggregate similar homes in neighborhoods to drive large-scale demand for retrofits.
"Energy efficiency means cost savings for Canadians. At a time when we are facing challenges with affordability and climate change, affordable energy efficiency projects like the ones announced today meet Canadians where they are at and delivers the action they need, at the pace and scale they are demanding,” energy and natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a media release.
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