Essex Non-Profit Homes Repair and Renewal Pilot

Essex Non-Profit Homes (ENPH, est. 2012) owns and operates 120 homes acquired through receivership for more than 300 people in Essex County, Ontario. The homes are overdue for renovation, requiring both structural and energy-efficiency updates. Some of the homes already required demolition due to their state of repair. Considering the risks and benefits of a retrofit approach, ENPH opted to pilot deep retrofits on a sample of homes before retrofitting the entire portfolio. This pilot will retrofit four homes in total - one home from each style in ENPH’s portfolio (raised ranch, bungalow, side split, and back split). Drawing from Passive House principles, ENPH will add insulation to foundation walls and water lines, replace windows, install new heating and mechanical systems (air source heat pump and heat recovery ventilator), replace lighting with LED equivalents, replace water infrastructure to reduce water flow, and replace thermostats. The retrofit also includes structural reinforcement of bowing foundation walls. The overall impact of these measures could reduce energy use by 54% and reduce greenhouse gases by 74%. These measures will also improve tenant comfort in both summer and winter, adding air-conditioning via heat pump where no cooling existed previously. Innovative aspect(s): · Testing the success of such a significant retrofit is a first for ENPH and the SAH program · Retrofitting carries more financial risk than demolition, but ENPH’s homes constitute 40% of rentals in Essex – retrofitting this housing rather than demolishing it preserves critically needed affordable housing in the community Replicability: · If successful, the work in this pilot will be immediately applied to the rest of ENPH’s portfolio · The deep retrofits in this pilot would apply to any housing stock in similarly poor repair · If successful, the project has a better chance to secure financing for the larger scale implementation, which is a challenge for the organization and for projects with this level of retrofitting Affordability · Residents may benefit from a 14% decrease in utility costs · 100% of the units are affordable (Project description from original funding application)