Transitioning to Zero Carbon Buildings in the City of North Vancouver

The City of North Vancouver intends to complete a feasibility study to assess the possibility of implementing a home retrofit financing model. The proposed study aligns with North Vancouver’s target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, which was adopted by Council in 2019. The study is also supported by the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP), which recommended developing a home retrofit financing program to help achieve the community’s emissions reduction target. The proposed study seeks to achieve the following: · Gain a better understanding of the city’s building stock and the opportunities to reduce emissions · Make recommendations on the most appropriate policy or program actions to achieve home retrofits with the greatest opportunity for emission reductions · Evaluate two financing models (Property Assessed Clean Energy [PACE]/Local Improvement Charge [LIC] financing, and third-party lending) and recommend the best model for the City To achieve the study’s objectives, the project team will work closely with staff from other city departments, including the finance, building, planning and legal departments. The city will hire a consultant to complete the bulk of the study. The program’s projected uptake and benefits will be refined as part of the study, but preliminary analysis estimates retrofitting a total of 900 homes. This would result in energy savings of approximately 25,355 GJ per year and greenhouse gas emission reductions of 647 tCO2e per year. Anticipated community benefits include an increase in property value, reduced operating costs, the creation and retention of jobs, improved neighborhood cohesion, and improved resiliency to severe weather events. Innovative aspect(s): · The project’s implementation and delivery approach will leverage a vast network of partners and local utilities that will be involved in community engagement and uptake as well as contractor training · The proposed program will encourage deep retrofits and include a wide variety of eligible energy-efficiency measures targeting single-family homes with the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions · The program uses the Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioner’s energy poverty tool to actively engage the public, and will include an equity lens to target uptake by lower-income residents Replicability: The proposed program has built-in mechanisms for active replication in municipalities across British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada. It also includes opportunities to share lessons learned and attend virtual meetings with national networks and other funded recipients to exchange, collaborate and share resources to help one another understand and design efficient home energy retrofit programs. (Project description from original funding application)