Ontario Construction news staff writer
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has finalized a financial agreement, committing $100 million to GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc. (GDI) for extensive energy retrofits in aging buildings across Canada. The investment aims to reduce the environmental impact of these structures and support the country’s climate change goals.
GDI, along with its subsidiaries Ainsworth and Énergère, will spearhead projects through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will finance the capital costs with contributions from CIB, GDI, and other third parties. Ainsworth and Énergère will handle the complete design/build services, including initial energy audits, system design, installation, and ongoing energy management and optimization.
“This partnership will enable GDI to accelerate the implementation of turnkey retrofit solutions designed to improve the efficiency of our country’s inventory of aging buildings, which is key to making communities more resilient and sustainable,” said Ehren Cory, CEO of CIB.
Each retrofitted building is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 30 per cent annually, averaging 37 per cent across the project portfolio. The initiative is set to reduce approximately 44,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year and generate around 500 jobs in the trades sector.
“No one can reduce the environmental impact of aging buildings across the country on their own,” Cory said. “This requires the public and private sectors coming together. We are proud to announce this agreement today that is a shining example of such a partnership and is one that will help Canada reach net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Buildings contribute around 18 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions, making this initiative crucial for meeting the country’s climate targets.
“We are very excited to work with CIB on their financing program that we can offer to our clients across Canada,” said Claude Bigras, president and CEO of GDI. “These investments will enable our clients to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions and will contribute to the mitigation of climate change effects in Canada and the world.
“We will be performing turnkey solutions for clients’ buildings to reduce the carbon footprint while enhancing overall energy efficiency.”