Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program

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 retrofits approaches in up to six community housing neighbourhoods in Canada.

The GNPP focuses on clusters of low-rise housing and seeks to pilot the Energiesprong aggregated 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.

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. Applicants interested in facilitating deep retrofits to those building types should refer to the DRAI’s website.

Deadline: GNPP call supporting Market Development Teams open until April 5, 2023