Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program

Focusing on clusters of low-rise housing, the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program (GNPP) seeks to pilot the Energiesprong aggregated deep energy retrofit model in the Canadian market. This model, developed by the Netherlands and adopted by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States, accelerates the pace and scale of retrofits by aggregating similar homes and buildings in an entire neighbourhood to create mass demand for deep energy retrofits. This scale of project and similarity of buildings can leverage new retrofit approaches such as the use of prefabricated exterior panels to reduce on-site labour time and overall project costs, while reducing the energy use intensity and emissions from each retrofitted building. This support for community-level home retrofits aligns with the Net-Zero Advisory Body’s recommendation to seek out opportunities to decarbonize multiple buildings at once.

Program Timelines

The Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program is investing $35.5M over five years. Recipients periodically report on their project activities during project implementation, and report on post-project results for 5 years following project completion. NRCan uses this information to report to Canadians on the use of public funds as well as for market analysis and program lessons to inform future program and policy development.

Program Overview

More than two thirds of buildings that will be standing in Canada in 2050 have already been built today, and many of them need to be retrofitted to make them more sustainable. The Government of Canada is investing $35.5M over five years, starting in 2022-23, for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to implement a Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program (GNPP) that aims to validate the benefits and business cases of aggregated deep energy retrofit approaches in up to six community housing neighbourhoods in Canada.

The GNPP will pilot the Energiesprong model in Canada through initiatives that:

• Validate the technical and economic feasibility of the Energiesprong deep energy retrofit approach;
• Support regional Market Development Teams (MDTs) in their work to accelerate the market for aggregated deep energy retrofits;
• Support deep energy retrofit demonstration projects in community housing buildings in up to six communities (100 or more units per demonstration site);
• Fund critical S&T activities to overcome challenges in implementing novel retrofit solutions, and support engagement and sharing of best practices with stakeholders.

The GNPP program is expected to achieve the following outcomes:

• Increased uptake of deep energy retrofits across the residential sector through aggregation and replication;
• Reduced overall cost, construction time, energy use intensity and GHG emissions from aggregated deep energy retrofits;
• Improved comfort, energy efficiency and environmental outcomes for Canadian homes.

The success of the Energiesprong model is underpinned by the presence of MDTs. These are third-party organizations who convene and coordinate supply- and demand-side actors to broker aggregated deep energy retrofit projects at pilot- or full-scale, find solutions to regional gaps and barriers, and drive market transformation in their regions. Examples of other industry terms for MDTs or similar concepts include “retrofit coordinators”, “retrofit accelerators,” or “retrofit transaction enablers.”

The GNPP builds from foundational innovations pioneered by CanmetENERGY on the Prefabricated Exterior Energy Retrofit (PEER) concept as well as the successful implementation of Energiesprong-inspired deep energy retrofit projects funded under NRCan’s Green Infrastructure Energy Efficient Buildings Program (EEB). The EEB Program provided $547,500 in funding to the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation to demonstrate a replicable, prefabricated modular approach for retrofitting a four-unit townhouse, with an emphasis on exploring opportunities for standardization and industrialization, providing a replicable solution that benefits Canadians. The EEB Program also provided $2.7 million in funding to the Sundance Housing Co-operative to demonstrate a first-in-Canada scale-up of the Energiesprong approach to 59 units of a townhouse complex.

In parallel to the launch of this program, NRCan has launched the Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative (DRAI). The DRAI is a complementary program that will support retrofit accelerators that focus on providing services to the owners of large buildings, including commercial, institutional, and mid- or high-rise multi-unit residential buildings.

Supported Projects

Map of projects funded by the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program

Text version: Table 1. List of projects funded by the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program

Market Development Teams

Recipient	Organization Type	Project Title	Region Served	Building Type(s)
Earthrise Building Services Inc.	For Profit - Micro	Earthrise Retrofit Accelerator	Yukon, with a focus on engaging with Indigenous communities	Single detached, semi-detached houses
First Nations Power Authority of Saskatchewan Inc.	Indigenous Group	FNPA's Market Development Initiative for Community-Scale Energy Efficiency Retrofits in Indigenous Communities	Saskatchewan, Federal Lands	Single detached houses
Sustainable Buildings Canada	Not-for-Profit	Enabling Energiesprong Market Transformation by Supporting Ontario's Social Housing Market	Ontario	Row houses, multi-unit residential buildings
EnviroCentre	Not-for-Profit	Future Homes Accelerator	Eastern Ontario	Townhouses, stacked townhouses, semi-detached houses
Conseil régional de l'environnement et du développement durable de l'Outaouais (CREDDO)	Not-for-Profit	Communauté du bâtiment vert de l'Outaouais	Outaouais, Quebec	All residential building types of four stories or less
The ReCover Initiative	For Profit - Micro	Atlantic Canadian Retrofit Roadmap	Atlantic Canada	Low-rise multi-unit residential buildings

National Retrofit Repository Project

Recipient	Organization Type	Project Title	Project Location	Building Type(s)
Retrofit Canada Society	Not-for-Profit	National Retrofit Repository and Engagement to Advance Canadian Deep Energy Retrofits	Canada	All residential building types of four stories or less

Resources

Market Development Team Application Guide

Demonstration Project Application Guide

Prefabricated Exterior Energy Retrofit (PEER) Guide

Local Energy Efficiency Partnerships (LEEP)

---

Contact us

Stay connected

Join our electronic mailing list for up-to-date information on our funding calls, and follow us on social media and join the conversation using #energyinnovation