Burlington Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program

The City of Burlington intends to complete a study to examine the feasibility of implementing a home energy efficiency retrofit program. Burlington’s 2020 Climate Action Plan (CAP) identified such a program as being critical for helping the community to become net carbon neutral by 2050. The study also aligns with the city’s 2019 Climate Emergency Declaration of becoming net carbon neutral by 2050. The major barriers the study plans to address include the high upfront costs of retrofits, the lack of awareness of the multi-dimensional benefits of retrofits, the complex and intimidating nature of the retrofitting process, and split incentives for rental households. The Centre for Climate Change Management (CCCM) at Mohawk College, in collaboration with the city, will undertake the feasibility study and some aspects of program design. These will include a background assessment of the residential building (low-rise) sector; a review of municipal best practices; and public/stakeholder engagement through surveys, focus groups and interviews. The study aims to explore PACE (property assessed clean energy), LIC (local improvement charge) and third-party lending financing models and will recommend a preferred model. Other aspects of program design the study will analyze include the costs of program delivery, the value of energy savings, and the costs of retrofit measures. A preliminary analysis of the study projects an annual uptake of 425 energy retrofit projects resulting in an estimated energy savings of 85,493 GJ per year and greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 2,662 tCO2e per year. Community benefits resulting from the proposed initiative include increased property value, energy bill savings, job creation and retention, improved neighborhood cohesion, and improved resiliency to severe weather events. Innovative aspects: · The program encourages deep retrofits and includes a wide variety of eligible energy-efficiency measures, including renewable energy and stormwater management. · The program encourages market transformation as it seeks to adopt the most affordable and convenient financing model for homeowners. · The implementation and delivery approach leverages a vast network of stakeholders and partners, including a potential regional delivery centre; educational campaigns for contractors, homeowners and realtors; and the establishment of an apprenticeship hub. Replicability: The study has high potential for replication and includes built-in mechanisms for active replication. These include the partnership with CCCM, co-development of a toolkit with the Clean Air Council, and the potential launch of a regional delivery centre that would allow neighbouring municipalities to tap into program-delivery mechanisms, technical expertise and application-processing support. Various toolkits, lessons learned and findings will also be shared with other municipalities looking to implement similar initiatives. (Project description from original funding application)