Energy Efficient Buildings RD&D

Program Background

Our government is investing $182 million to increase energy efficiency and address climate change by improving how our homes and buildings are designed, renovated, and constructed. Up to $42.4 million was allocated to support the development and implementation of building codes for existing buildings and new net-zero energy-ready buildings through RD&D initiatives that:

• Accelerate development and adoption of technologies, design and construction.
• Provide more cost-effective solutions.
• Validate locally with real-world demonstrations.
• Build confidence for adoption of updated codes.

These funds were disbursed under the Energy Efficient Buildings Program (‘EEB RD&D Program’) through a series of Calls for Proposals or Expressions of Interest. Funding under the EEB RD&D Program were accessible since 2018 and has now been fully allocated.

EEB RD&D Program 3^rd Call Finalists

The Energy Efficient Buildings RD&D Program closed their 3^rd call for project proposals in March 2021 after receiving 98 expressions of interest, which then underwent in-depth expert reviews. Seventeen companies were invited to submit full project proposals. After a stringent review process, eight projects were selected, successfully completed the due diligence process, and entered into funding agreements.

Program Results So Far

Calls 1, 2 and 3 of the EEB RD&D Program closed in September 2017, February 2018 and March 2021 respectively, with 389 Expressions of Interest (‘EOI’) received and evaluated across multiple Scope Priority Areas. EOIs were received from every region of Canada, from a wide range of applicant organizations, requesting a total of approximately $696M in Contribution funding – 16x more than the total funding available for the Program!

After evaluating and scoring all EOIs, the EEB RD&D Program invited 59 Applicants to submit full project proposals. Project locations and Applicant types were distributed as follows:

 

Final project selection was completed in summer 2021 and 20 projects were selected across the three Program calls, which are anticipated to result in:

For residential buildings:

• 100-150 FEED studies conducted to determine cost-effective deep energy retrofit pathways for residential buildings.
• Over 100 deep energy retrofits conducted in residential buildings.
• 80,000 m² of residential buildings retrofitted.
• Demonstration projects resulting in up to 65% reduction in building energy consumption.
• 540 new residential units built.

For commercial and institutional buildings:

• 16 new buildings constructed, providing Net-Zero Energy Ready business cases.
• 40,000 m² of commercial/institutional floor space developed.
• Up to 16 FEED studies and Deep Energy Retrofits conducted for commercial buildings.
• Deep energy retrofit demonstration projects resulting in more than 50% reduction in building energy consumption with a 20 year payback or less.

As well as:

• 3 nationally applicable software tools implemented.
• All Canadian climate zones covered by the selected projects.

Expected outcomes of the selected projects include:

• Demonstration of a cost-effective deep energy retrofit solution for Nunavut, targeting 50% reduction in energy consumption.
• 3 demonstrations of new Net-Zero Ready buildings, supporting codes development and building market confidence.
• A deep energy retrofit pathway for a k-12 school.
• Demonstration of innovative, cost-effective retrofit approaches for social housing.
• BC-led demonstration program showcasing building performance at the highest level of the BC Energy Step Code.
• ReCover Initiative featuring panelized deep energy retrofits of municipal buildings.
• City of Toronto-led Deep Retrofit Challenge aiming to drive deep energy retrofits in the GTA.
• FEED study identifying the best approach to a zero carbon community energy system.
• Software tools to investigate pathways to achieving Net-Zero Energy Ready building designs, and to provide actionable information to reduce building energy consumption.

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