Climate Action Council

Energy

Low Carbon Building Series: University of Toronto Project Leap

In this webinar, Scott Hendershot , Senior Manager, Sustainability, University of Toronto shared insights on campus-wide sustainability initiatives – including expanding the campus’s ability to capture and store heat through a new geoexchange system beneath Front Campus, phasing out natural gas in favour of electrification for heating, upgrading to energy-efficient LED lighting in 38 buildings, and optimizing energy used for air distribution systems in key research laboratories. Together, these efforts will reduce nearly 50,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year, equivalent to the energy use of more than 10,000 homes. We explored the drivers that made this project feasible and how similar approaches could be applied in other communities.

Low Carbon Building Series: Carville Community Centre

In this webinar, Jon Loewen from Perkins & Will, Tom Jones and Lamya Baraam from City of Vaughan provided details on the development, design, and performance of the Carville Community Centre and Library, which is the City of Vaughan’s first net-zero carbon building. The session included detailed insights into energy efficiency, emissions reductions, operational challenges, and lessons learned.

Low Carbon Buildings Series: EX3 Condos – North America’s Tallest Geothermal Condominium

In this webinar with Tim Weber, Co-Founder of Diverso Energy, and Joseph Feldman, President & COO of Camrost Felcorp, share insights on the EX3 Condos geothermal project – the tallest residential development in North America to feature a geothermal energy system. From both the energy utility and developer perspectives, the webinar explored how the geothermal vision for EX3 Condos began and evolved.

CAC Workshop: Integrated Energy Plan

In June 2025, Ontario released the province’s Integrated Energy Plan (IEP), which is intended to outline the actions needed to prepare for the anticipated growth of Ontario’s electricity system and bring together planning for electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, and other fuels into a single coordinated plan.

Last year, a draft version of the IEP was published for public comment. The CAC provided feedback during this process, and upon reviewing the final version of the plan, we’ve identified areas of both alignment and misalignment between the CAC’s recommendations and the actions outlined in the final IEP. This workshop provided an overview of these points of alignment and misalignment and included a discussion about next steps.

Additional Resources

Low-Carbon Hydrogen in Mississauga: Infrastructure and Market Potential

Mississauga is investigating the development of a hydrogen hub. The hub is designed to engage project partners and local businesses to build awareness and education about hydrogen. The City of Mississauga engaged Deloitte to assess the feasibility of establishing a hydrogen hub, with funding from Natural Resources Canada. The assessment aimed to: (1) understand the hydrogen opportunity in Mississauga and the surrounding region, focusing on infrastructure and market potential, (2) position Mississauga competitively to attract investment and support for hydrogen initiatives, and (3) develop actionable steps to operationalize the hydrogen hub and address key challenges. In this webinar, City of Mississauga staff shared the results of the analysis.

Additional Resources

For a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Building with Purpose: Solar Facades for Renewable Energy Generation

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), also referred to as solar cladding or solar facade, integrate solar panels into a building’s exterior for electricity generation and enhanced building envelope functions. In this webinar, Cory Fry from Mitrex Solar presented on Mitrex’s public sector projects and discussed the potential of BIPV for renewable energy generation.

Additional Resources

If you are interested in a copy of the slide deck, please reach out to cap@cleanairpartnership.org 

Low-Carbon Affordable Housing: Efficiency Meets Equity

Waterloo Region Housing’s 420 Kingscourt Drive is a 73-unit building that provides comfortable and energy-efficient housing for lower-income residents. The building was designed with renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, including ground source heat pumps connected to an open-loop geothermal system and solar PV panels, integrated, and is expected to result in energy savings of approximately $54,000 annually, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and net annual total energy use intensity. In this webinar, Tristan Wilkin, Supervisor, Affordable Housing Development and Brad Pick, Senior Project Manager, at Waterloo Region, presented on 420 Kingscourt Drive from project initiation through to development.

Additional Resources

 

If you are interested in a copy of the slide deck, please contact cap@cleanairpartnerhsip.org

BEPS CoP Webinar #1: The Important Role of Building Emissions Performance Standards in Net Zero

In this webinar, Natalia Enriquez Goyes and Ekaterina Tzekova from The Atmospheric Fund took participants on a Building Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) journey. This webinar explored the role of BPS in net zero targets, why they are essential based on research on uptake from voluntary versus mandatory standards, and the progress occurring across North America. The speakers shared lessons learned from ongoing efforts that can inform local leading practices and approaches.

To inform future BEPS CoP efforts, following the presentation, participants engaged in break-out groups to explore municipal BEPS needs, concerns and required support. This webinar was the first in a series that aims to build municipal capacity and capabilities for exploring the role of BEPS in their community net-zero commitments.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Renewables Guide for Utility Scale Wind and Solar Projects

Tim Weis from the University of Alberta presented guidance for landowners, local decision makers or community members to help them better understand utility-scale renewable energy including steps in project development, operations and decommissioning of renewable energy in Ontario and questions to ask energy developers. He provided background on the basics of wind and solar energy and what is driving its development, as well as details on the process and steps associated with the development of renewable energy projects.

The Landowner Guide For Wind and Solar Project Development in Ontario was developed based on research and conversations with project developers, landowners, and communities regarding renewable energy projects.

Additional Resources

 

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Building Low-Carbon Communities: Decarbonizing Residential Energy Systems

Creative Energy is developing a low-carbon solution that decarbonizes space heating and cooling for North Oak, a residential project in Oakville. The design utilizes geoexchange and ambient loop systems, heat pumps, boilers, and utilizes energy modeling software to create an efficient and sustainable district energy system. The combination of the geo fields and ambient distribution will allow buildings to share energy with one another, and enable in-suite heat pumps within the building to operate reliably and efficiently. The system is expected to avoid almost 1,000 tonnes of GHG emissions a year.

In this webinar, Keith Bate, Director of Engineering, and David Angelo, Director of Relationships (Canada East) presented on the North Oak community energy system and additional low carbon energy projects lead by Creative Energy, highlighting the potential for emissions, energy, and long-term financial savings.

Additional Resources

 

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Energy Managers Community of Practice Webinar: Peel Region’s NZE New Construction Standard

As buildings contribute significantly to Peel’s corporate emissions, the Office of Climate Change and Energy Management (OCCEM) at Peel Region has developed a Corporate Net Zero Emission (NZE) Policy and Standard for new construction, ensuring all new corporate buildings do not add to the already strained current GHG inventory. The Standard is instrumental in driving deep carbon reductions in new construction, thus enabling Peel to meet its corporate emissions reduction target of 45% by 2030 as well as the longer-term ambition of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Recognized with the CaGBC Government Leadership Award, this Standard provides a comprehensive set of guidelines and requirements designed to ensure that all new regional buildings and facilities achieve Net-Zero carbon emissions. It builds upon the basic principles of the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) design certification and incorporates additional measures to elevate environmental and operational standards. Bassem Elosman, Advisor of Climate Change and Energy Management with Peel Region, delivered a presentation on the Standards and how they are being applied to new construction.

 

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

240 Markland Drive: Achieving Net-Zero with Geothermal Retrofit

240 Markland Drive is a 10-storey residential building in Etobicoke, Ontario, with a gross floor area of 12,557 m² and 113 units. The building underwent a transformative deep energy retrofit, completed by Carttera in 2022. In collaboration with Geosource Energy Inc., the retrofit incorporated low-carbon geothermal systems for both heating and cooling. These geothermal systems now serve both the original rental building and the new residential development on-site. As a result of the retrofit, 240 Markland Drive achieved Zero Carbon Building certification under the Canada Green Building Council’s ZCB-Performance Standard. This webinar featured insights from both Carttera and Geosource Energy Inc. on the key components of the retrofit, the integration of geothermal energy systems, and the steps taken to achieve net-zero operations.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Data Tools for Community Energy Planners and Climate Coordinators

Kyle Bassett from Climate Neutral presented on the results of the Climate Action Working Group which brought together a group of Ontario municipalities to use the tools developed by Climate Neutral to support and empower municipalities of all sizes to provide municipal councils and decision makers with data intelligence. The tool can be used to create greenhouse gas inventories, develop climate action plans, and track progress.

 

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

IESO’s Residential and Commercial Energy Programs

In this webinar, Arwa Sayyadi and Vicki Gagnon from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) provided an overview of the organization’s low-income residential program, as well as commercial programs such as the retrofit rebate program. The session also included a brief discussion on strategies municipalities can use to effectively promote these programs within their communities.

Additional Resources

Integrating Greenhouse Gas Considerations into Urban Expansion Requests

Urban sprawl often leads to the expansion of new growth into previously undeveloped areas, increasing greenhouse gas emissions due to greater transportation needs and infrastructure costs via the requirement for new infrastructure. However, municipalities, via provincial requirements, are required to consider urban expansion boundary requests. Municipalities are exploring ways to incorporate greenhouse gas and infrastructure cost considerations into urban expansion requests. In this webinar, the City of Ottawa and the City of Hamilton shared their approach to addressing urban boundary expansion requests and integrating greenhouse gas and infrastructure implications into the urban boundary expansion application process.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Geothermal Drilling and Aquifer Protection Leading Practices Guide

David Brodrecht and Paul Frith from the Ontario Geothermal Association (OGA) presented up to date leading practices to support municipal understanding of the drilling process for geo-exchange low carbon energy systems and ensure protection of local aquifers and water supply systems. They  discussed how the provincial regulatory process for geothermal drillers applies to municipalities and the projects they are working on.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Energy Efficiency Retrofit of Ottawa RA Recreation Centre

In this webinar,  we heard from Mario Giamberardino, Chief Financial Officer at RA Centre. The RA Centre is a multi-sport and recreation facility in Ottawa that partnered with SOFIAC to access Canada Infrastructure Bank funds to invest in its efficiency plan. Mario shared their experiences advancing their energy efficiency work as well as issues encountered and lessons learned. 

 

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Energy Storage Resources: Best Practices and Key Considerations for Municipalities

Ontario has identified energy storage resources as a key component of the province’s grid modernization and path to decarbonization. As such, many municipalities are being asked to evaluate proposals for battery energy storage systems (BESS) – one of the most commonly deployed types of energy storage in the world today. To help municipalities assess these proposals and better understand the role these projects play in supporting the low carbon energy transition, Energy Storage Canada provided an overview of best practices and key considerations for the deployment of BESS installations.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Geothermal Drilling and Aquifer Protection Leading Practices Guide

David Brodrecht and Paul Frith from the Ontario Geothermal Association (OGA) presented up to date leading practices to support municipal understanding of the drilling process for geo-exchange low carbon energy systems and ensure protection of local aquifers and water supply systems. They  discussed how the provincial regulatory process for geothermal drillers applies to municipalities and the projects they are working on.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Home Energy and Emissions Ratings and Labels

Prince Edward Island (PEI) and the City of Ottawa shared their efforts to advance residential home energy/emissions ratings as well as the important role labelling plays in building the needed ecosystem to drive scale up of retrofits. Glen Compton from the province of PEI and Aaron Thornell from City of Ottawa were joined by Climative to highlight their labelling efforts and how it fits into overall retrofit programs and efforts. 

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org