Ontario Construction News staff writer
The federal government will give $2 million to three organizations to complete energy efficiency projects in buildings in Ontario:
- $1.3 million to Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology in London, to retrofit the Kestrel Court Student Residence, a 25-year-old complex, into a net zero-energy facility. Fanshawe College also contributed $1.25 million, bringing the combined project cost to more than $2.5 million.
- $365,000 to Indwell in Woodstock to support construction of Blossom Park Apartments, a new, 34-unit, high-performing multi-unit residential building using the BuildSMART prefabricated envelope technology to help inform local and national net-zero energy codes. The Canada Green Building Council, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Oxford County and Passive House Canada also funded the project, bringing the total cost to more than $7.3 million.
- $350,000 to Enwave Energy Corporation, in Markham, to support the development of the Enwave Geothermal Community Energy System, which will supply low-carbon geothermal heating and cooling to 300 residential homes. The project also received financial support from City of Markham, Mattamy Homes and The Atmospheric Fund for a total project cost of $818,367.
Federal funding is through Natural Resources Canada’s Green Infrastructure – Energy Efficient Buildings Program. This program supports improvements to the design, renovation and construction of our homes and buildings.
The Government of Canada is also developing a Green Buildings Strategy focused on increasing the rate of building retrofits, ensuring buildings are resilient and net-zero ready from the start, and supporting systems change for the buildings sector of the future.
“Reducing emissions from buildings is a key part of our efforts to combat climate change. Our government is pleased to support today’s investment in energy efficiency in Ontario, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower costs to residents and improve building resilience for folks in London, Woodstock and Markham,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, minister of natural resources.
“Today our government announced support for research and development in the buildings sector. These investments will improve energy efficiency, help build more resilient communities and demonstrate Canadian leadership in addressing climate change.”
Graham Cubitt, director of projects and evelopment, says the Indwell project “allowed us to fully embrace the learning curve of adopting high-efficiency energy performance standards.
“This funding helped cover energy monitoring and performance-related technologies, track the results of design decisions, and figure out where real-world results match up (or don’t) with the modelled assumptions.
“Not only have we lowered our tenants’ energy bills, we’ve also been able to permanently reduce our GHG emissions while creating beautiful places where people live and thrive.”