THE GREEN RENOVATION WAVE

Canada has 2.85 billion square metres of inefficient buildings that make up 13% of our national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Transitioning the buildings off fossil fuels will require ambitious energy retrofits on an unprecedented scale. A ten-year, phased-in program for thermally retrofitting and electrifying 60% of Canada’s homes would reduce GHG emissions by 45% and, at current rates, annual fuel and electricity costs by $12.7 billion annually.  For commercial buildings stock, the combination of thermal retrofits and conversions to heat pumps will enable energy costs to drop by a third ($7.3 billion), and GHG emissions to drop by 50%, or 22 Mt CO2e. This session details the public investments and policy measures needed to decarbonize this sector on our ambitious timeline.