City of Toronto and Enbridge Gas Distribution Announce New Design Assistance and Financial Incentives for Energy-Efficient New Construction and Major Renovations

TORONTO – The City of Toronto and Enbridge Gas Distribution (Enbridge) yesterday announced the launch of two new conservation programs offered by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). The programs will provide design assistance and financial incentives to encourage building owners and architects to include sustainable and energy-efficient features in new construction and major renovation projects across Ontario.

The Enbridge-delivered High Performance New Construction (HPNC) program and the City of Toronto’s enhanced Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) program are part of a major conservation initiative offered by the OPA. Each will contribute to the OPA’s overall mandate to promote electricity Conservation and Demand Management throughout Ontario and soundly manage the province’s current and near-term electricity supply.

“The City of Toronto has been a leader in energy efficiency measures for buildings for more than 10 years,” says Mayor David Miller. “This funding from the OPA allows us to continue to provide the good work we’ve already begun. As Canada’s largest city I believe that we can make a significant impact in reducing energy consumption.”

The programs will provide assistance to include energy-efficiency measures in the design, construction and operation of new and substantially renovated buildings. These measures are designed to save energy through improved efficiency and peak demand management.

“As a leader in the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency programs and market transformation for more than a decade, this is a perfect fit for Enbridge Gas Distribution,” says Janet Holder, President, Enbridge Gas Distribution. “We’re extremely excited to help building owners and architects across Ontario make the best use of energy through a comprehensive and integrated approach to building systems.”

The OPA has retained the services of the City to implement the program within the 416 area code and Enbridge will offer its program throughout the rest of the province.

“Ontario has set a very aggressive conservation target – 6,300 megawatts by 2025,” said Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer, Ontario Power Authority. “Partnering with the City of Toronto and Enbridge Gas Distribution for delivering these programs should go a long way to meeting that target.”

City of Toronto Program

The City of Toronto’s Energy Efficiency Office develops and implements programs that promote energy efficiency and offers two specific programs for Toronto buildings. The Better Buildings Partnership - Existing Buildings (BBP-EB) Program for retrofits to existing buildings and the Better Buildings Partnership New Construction (BBP-NC) Program for new buildings being built to be more energy efficient.

The BBP-EB promotes and implements energy efficiency and building-renewal retrofits in industrial, commercial, institutional and multi-residential buildings. The goal is to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and help reduce the threat of climate change by renewing the city's building stock.

The Better Buildings Partnership New Construction Program (BBP-NC) goal is to have new buildings designed and built to be more energy efficient. Eligible buildings are commercial industrial and multi-unit residential buildings being constructed. The BBP-NC has two parts, the design assistance and constructed savings.

With enhanced incentives for electricity conservation the Better Buildings Partnership will now contribute to the City's goal is to achieve 90 Megawatts of electricity conservation as part of the directive from the Minister of Energy to the OPA to achieve 300 MW of savings in Toronto by the end of the decade. The BBP will provide incentives up to $400 per kilowatt saved to 2012 depending on project eligibility. Achieving our program savings target of 90 MW could realize incentive payouts up to $36 Million.