Climate Action Council

Net Zero Homes

Low-Carbon Affordable Housing: Sundance Housing Co-Op Deep Energy Retrofit

Energy efficiency retrofits in social and affordable housing present an enormous opportunity to protect against energy price increases, reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions and create more comfortable spaces for residents. There are significant benefits that can come from ensuring that experiences and lessons learned from retrofit projects are shared across the social and affordable housing and municipal corporate energy sector. In this webinar, Peter Amerongen from Retrofit Canada spoke to the partnership efforts, lessons learned, and how the Sundance housing Co-op Deep Energy Retrofit project was instrumental in the development of a Retrofit Roadmap.

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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.

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

Utility and Municipal Engagements on Distribution System for Decarbonization

This webinar had presentations from Toronto Hydro and City of Toronto and Burlington Hydro and City of Burlington for how the municipality and utility are working to better understand the readiness and needs of the electricity distribution system to support decarbonization actions and targets. Presenters spoke to the work they are undertaking to better understand what is needed at the distribution level to enable the needed scale of electrification to achieve community greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Additional Resources

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

Energy Managers Community of Practice In Person Meeting

In this meeting, we heard from Bryan Ho-Yan, City of Guelph, on wastewater aeration upgrades, piloting electric buses and charging, Zero Carbon Building Community Centre and Baker Library projects, ISO 50001 Corporate, and BAS master specification development. In the second part, we heard from Duncan MacLellan and Howlan Mullally, City of Toronto, on the new emissions performance reporting by-law and an overview of the net zero carbon plan.

Other Resources:

For a copy of the slide decks, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org

How to Choose a Contractor

This webinar is part of Ask an Expert Renovation Webinar Series

Toronto City Council has adopted a bold strategy to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Toronto to net zero by 2040, one of the most ambitious targets in North America. To reach net zero emissions by 2040, more than 400,000 homes in Toronto must be renovated, and the City is committed to providing support to help homeowners get to net zero! This Ask an Expert webinar series aims to provide Toronto homeowners access to experts in the renovation industry, including HVAC (heat pump) experts, energy advisors, and contractors.

In this webinar, we discussed and answered the following questions: How do I know which contractors to work with and who I can trust to guide me through the entire journey? How many quotes or estimates should I get? What questions should I ask the contractors?

For a copy of the slide decks, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org

 

 

Municipal Energy Managers Meeting – Decarbonization & High Efficiency Electrification of Heating Systems

The electrification of heating systems plays a significant role in building decarbonization, and heat pumps are emerging as a solution. In this webinar, Lukas Glaspell from Trane Technologies – a building technology and energy solutions company – talked about the low-carbon mechanical systems available thus far. He presented real-world examples of decarbonization routes/options. We learned about leading practices and the cost-effectiveness of electrifying heating systems.

For a copy of the slide deck, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org