Latest news with #CanadaGreenerHomesAffordabilityProgram
National Observer
30-04-2025
- Business
- National Observer
How energy-efficient, affordable homes could help Canadian renters and manufacturers alike
Smart building doesn't need to mean high-tech gadgets and 'smart' appliances — just ask Mark Bernhardt, who has been building high-performance energy-efficient homes across Canada for two decades. 'Actually, most of our buildings are kinda dumb,' he said. 'They're not smart buildings, they're simple, easy to operate.' Bernhardt said building energy-efficient homes is all about minimizing the house's surface area with a simple design, an envelope-first approach creating long-lasting structures with less energy, making other parts of the house like heating and cooling systems easier to operate and less energy-consuming — and that energy efficiency can and should 'definitely' extend to affordable housing. 'There's no good business case for building a crummy building,' he said. Bernhardt is not alone in his desire to see more affordable, energy-efficient homes in Canada. Local leaders across the country are also making the case to federal leaders. Mayors and councillors across Canada signed an April 11 open letter calling for 'bold and achievable' climate-related ideas for the next federal government to implement. One of those ideas is building at least two million affordable energy-efficient homes. According to open letter signee Ottawa councillor Marty Carr, builders and experts, bridging affordability with energy efficiency reaps more benefits than lowering greenhouse gas emissions and shrinking carbon footprints. Building energy-efficient affordable homes could also increase opportunities for Canadian-based manufacturing and address Canada's housing crisis with short- and long-term solutions. Canadian mayors and councillors are calling upon federal leaders to implement climate-related ideas, including 2 million affordable energy-efficient homes. Experts say they'd reap more benefits than reduced carbon footprints. 'The climate change crisis has been a topic of conversation for the last 10 to 15 years, and you take what's happening south of us, the trade war with the United States, and I think now is an extremely timely conversation we're having to see these three themes intersect,' said letter signee Marty Carr, an Ottawa city councillor and deputy mayor. 'One thing we've heard over and over again is that we need to build here in Canada and we need to develop our own manufacturing.' 'These projects would create hundreds of thousands of good local jobs in cities, rural and Indigenous communities, using Canadian steel, aluminum and lumber,' the open letter reads. 'This is not just a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have' Sarah Sharma, a University of Ottawa political science professor who researches how politics and economics shape environmental policies, said 'it's welcome' for local leaders to be 'putting climate change back on the agenda.' She also cited current initiatives such as the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program as a 'good start.' The program is set to provide low- to median-income homeowners and tenants with no cost home retrofits to save on energy bills, but is not yet in place. 'We need to have policies like that moving forward,' she added. 'This is not just a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have for Canadian households.' Bernhardt said a benefit about energy-efficient homes is that they don't need to cost more to build than regular housing, citing a 38-house case study from the BC Housing Research Centre that found no relationship between a home's efficiency and increased building costs. Bernhardt added that homes built with energy-efficiency in mind could reduce homeowners or tenants' monthly living expenses. 'You're gonna have an energy bill that's a fraction of what it was,' he said, adding that his own energy-efficient house rarely incurs a monthly utility bill. According to Statistics Canada, approximately 842,000 Canadians aged 15 or older reported living in subsidized housing during the 2021 population census. A further 245,900 households were on a waitlist for social and affordable housing in 2022. Keith Brooks, programs director with advocacy organization Environmental Defence, said building affordable energy-efficient homes within existing urban neighbourhoods would also reduce individual carbon footprints due to their convenient locations. 'When we add more housing to existing built up areas, that means people are going to have a lower carbon footprint, not just because they use less energy at home, but because their lifestyle can allow them to access transit more easily to walk to the grocery store and to do all kinds of things that don't require a car,' he said. But for Bernhardt and his company, the focus is on their next project: a 27-unit energy-efficient subsidized rental building as part of an urban development in the small town of Pictou, NS. He said the plan is to open its doors to renters in winter 2026. 'It's pretty hard for somebody to care about the environment if they can't afford a house,' Bernhardt said. 'But if we're just out there building really garbage-y buildings, that's not gonna get us anywhere.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why the NDP's $18 billion retrofit plan may be giving some a sense of deja vu
The NDP's plan to retrofit 3.3 million homes with energy saving upgrades may have some feeling a sense of déjà vu. On Monday, the NDP announced it would use $18 billion over the next 10 years — money from oil and gas subsidies it plans to cancel — to retrofit homes to reduce emissions and lower electricity bills. Under the plan, 2.3 million low-income households would receive the upgrades for free, with the remaining 1 million homes receiving the funding through grants or low-interest loans. The party says the plan would also support Canadian-made products for the retrofits and create 'thousands' of jobs for skilled trades workers. 'This is how we fight the climate crisis and protect Canadians from the effect of Trump's trade war at the same time,' Singh said in a news release. The NDP says the retrofits are sorely needed. The Canada Green Building Council estimates that residential, commercial and institutional buildings represent 18 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. When combined with building materials and construction, Canada's building sector is the country's third-largest carbon emitter. But aspects of the NDP plan are hardly new. In 2021, the federal government announced the Canada Greener Homes Grant and Loan programs, which offered grants of up to $5,000 to support homeowners looking to renovate their homes with energy efficient windows, doors and heat pumps. More than 165,000 Canadians had participated in the program as of February 2024. Meanwhile, the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program (CGHAP), which the government says will 'start to be delivered' in the first half of 2025, offers free home retrofits for low-to-median income homeowners. The program is in partnership with the provinces, meaning regional programs are expected to be rolled out with each jurisdiction. For landlords, the CGHAP offers 100 per cent retrofit funding through low-interest and forgivable loans up to $170,000 per unit, provided the rental property has at least five beds and is at least 20 years old. Canadians can also take advantage of interest-free loans of up to $40,000 for green home renovations, available to all income levels. Even under both of these plans, Canada falls well short of its targets. Efficiency Canada predicted in 2021 that even with a ramp-up, it could take 140 years to retrofit all Canadian homes and 70 years to retrofit commercial space. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promised to meet all five recommendations from Canada's energy sector, including repealing Bill C-69, approving projects within six months, scrapping the energy cap and the industrial carbon tax. In addition to the home retrofit plan, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is promising to eliminate oil and gas subsidies, and introduce a border carbon adjustment. Carney vows to revive Canada's wartime-era homebuilding strategy Conservatives pitch Canada 'energy corridor' to end U.S. reliance Who is Canada's middle class and why are they important to the election? How soon will Canadians feel the carbon tax's demise? Depends what you're buying Does Canada have the workers needed for Carney's housing plan? Poilievre's TFSA plan takes a page from Harper's playbook • Email: bcousins@ Sign in to access your portfolio
