Thanks to a Federation of Canadian Municipalities grant, the Capital Region District will receive $175,000 to study the feasibility of residential retrofits for energy efficiency.
The money is part of a $1 million program for B.C. communities and will pay for industry experts to draft low-carbon retrofit packages for regional buildings, come up with methods for retrofit program delivery and determine potential funding schemes and target markets.
A plan for the regionwide residential energy retrofit program will be presented to the CRD board this fall, said CRD climate action program coordinator Nikki Elliot and will be part of the 2022 budget discussions.
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In a release, federal Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan Jr. called energy efficiency improvements “our hidden fuel,” noting that they create jobs, lower emissions and build a more prosperous and sustainable economy. “This is how we get to net-zero by 2050.”
Residences accounted for seven per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to federal government figures, with 42 million square tons of CO2 produced from Canadian homes. They also contribute to transportation and building CO2 emitted globally, which the United Nations Environment Programme estimates accounts for 75 per cent of the world’s total output.
Other municipalities included in the $1 million funding are North Vancouver, Kelowna, Revelstoke, Vernon, New Westminster, Mount Waddington and Powell River.
The retrofit study program is funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipality’s Green Municipal Fund, which itself has received $1.65 billion from the Government of Canada in the 20 years since its inception.
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