Climate Action Council

Renewable Energy

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.

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

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

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

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 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

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

Introduction to SolarTO

This webinar is part of the 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: Are you curious about your home’s solar PV potential? Are you wondering if the trees will block the sun or if your roof is angled correctly for optimum solar energy generation? Simply search your home address in the SolarTO map to get a good idea of your solar potential! The City of Toronto’s SolarTO team is more than happy to help you with your Solar PV questions.

For a copy of the slide deck, 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