Canada Green Buildings Strategy Announced

On July 16th, federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, announced the release of the Canada Green Buildings Strategy (CGBS).  Coming a full year after it was expected to be announced, The CGBS sets out the Government of Canada’s vision and next steps to green Canada’s homes and buildings by centering around three priorities to decarbonize and improve the resiliency of Canada’s buildings stock, while helping to ensure affordability for Canadians by:

  • Accelerating retrofits,
  • Building green and affordable from the start, and
  • Shaping the buildings sector of the future.

 

Key highlights in the Strategy include:

  1. Transitioning away from one-way air conditioners to heat pumps.
  2. Reducing embodied carbon in federal investments in public infrastructure assets.
  3. A commitment to ensure that all new federal buildings, including Crown Corporations’ buildings, achieve net-zero emissions and be powered by clean energy.
  4. A commitment to modernizing the Energy Efficiency Act to update the suite of legislative tools needed to account for the realities of today’s online retail environment for energy-using products and equipment.
  5. A new version of the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program that will ensure low-median income households get the retrofits they need, while driving down home energy costs and emissions. Will include an Indigenous carve-out.
  6. A commitment to renewing existing energy efficiency programming that will ensure industry has the support they need to advance energy management systems and higher building code tiers.
  7. A commitment to advancing a national approach to home energy labelling driven by energy advisors, so that homeowners understand their home’s carbon footprint and make cost-saving upgrades.
  8. A commitment to introducing a regulatory framework that will allow the phase-out of the installation of expensive and polluting oil heating systems in new construction, as early as 2028.

Full details of the GBS have not been reviewed as of this writing but the initial impression is that the plan falls short of expectations, leaving unanswered (among other things) why it was delayed a full year.  Apart from the reference to the renewed Greener Homes Program (now only for low- to medium income households) in the GBS, there has been no other discussions about the design of this program, but HRAI will be involved in consultations starting July 22nd that may aid in shaping details.

For more information, contact Martin Luymes at 1-800-267-2231 ext. 235, or email mluymes@hrai.ca.

 


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