Deep Retrofit Challenge

The City of Toronto launched a new program to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings in Toronto. The Deep Retrofit Challenge offers grants of up to $500,000 to support deeper-than-planned energy retrofits in up to 16 buildings in Toronto, with the goal of accelerating emissions reductions and identifying pathways to net zero that can be replicated in other buildings. Eligible buildings include existing multi-unit residential and commercial office buildings

The Deep Retrofit Challenge (the Challenge) is a competition style program that will support deep energy retrofit projects that deliver significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions in approximately 10 to 16 buildings. Eligible buildings include existing multi-unit residential and commercial buildings. Participating buildings will serve to demonstrate the deep energy retrofits needed to move buildings towards net zero emissions, with the goal of accelerating market adoption.

The Challenge will serve as a catalyst to accelerate deep energy retrofits in support of the City’s Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy, which aims to reduce emissions from existing buildings in Toronto to net zero by 2040.  Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto today. The Challenge is funded by the federal government.

Participating buildings/owners will collaborate and compete to retrofit to the highest performance standards. Grants will be awarded to selected participants to help offset the cost of performing a deep retrofit of their buildings, with portions allocated for design, construction and confirmed emissions performance. The final funding award will be based on measured emissions reductions once the project is complete.

Retrofits should aim to reach an 80 per cent emissions reduction or greater over current building emissions, in alignment with the City’s target to reduce emissions to net zero by 2040. Retrofits must follow a comprehensive whole-building approach that considers the building as a single, integrated system and how components of the building work together.

Participants will be required to make details of their deep retrofits publicly available, including utility energy use and costs, designs, and project costs, to help drive uptake of similar retrofits. Projects will be featured in case studies and recognized for early transformative action.

Challenge participants will receive a grant equal to 25 per cent of their total project costs up to a maximum of up to $500,000 (depending on gross floor area) to offset the incremental design and construction costs required to achieve maximize emissions reductions.

Participants may also apply to the City’s Energy Retrofit Loan (ERL) and High-Rise Retrofit Improvement Support (Hi-RIS) programs to assist in funding the projects, as well as to other incentive programs.

Participating buildings are expected to take part in the initial cohort of volunteers for the Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy actions 1-3, which include:

• Annual emissions (and energy) performance reporting, public disclosure and labelling
• Greenhouse gas emissions performance targets
• Performing energy and emissions audits and tune-ups (at regular intervals)

Deep Retrofits and Net Zero Buildings - Defined

Deep Retrofit

A deep retrofit is an extensive, holistic overhaul of a building’s systems, utilizing best practices with the goal of significantly reducing of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A deep retrofit is either a step or a leap towards net zero emissions. To achieve the City’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions climate target almost all buildings in Toronto will be required to undergo deep energy retrofits.

A deep retrofit can deliver significant savings on energy costs as building energy usage is reduced by 50 per cent or more. Core components of a deep retrofit typically include:

• improvements to the building envelope
• fuel switching away from fossil fuel natural gas heating systems to electric heat pumps
• modification of other parts of the HVAC system, building operations, renewable energy, and more

For example, the holistic upgrade of building systems could include air sealing and extra insulation, high performance triple pane windows, electric heat pumps (ground or air source) for space and water heating, energy recovery (ventilation, drain, or equipment), renewable electricity generation, electric vehicle chargers, building controls and more.

The energy reduction switching building heating systems away from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps alone is enormous; as air-source heat pumps are typically at least three times more efficient than the most efficient gas-fired heating systems. Ontario’s electricity system is relatively low-emissions meaning any fuel conversion from fossil fuels to electricity will result in a large emissions reductions.

To achieve the City’s net zero greenhouse gas emission climate target almost all buildings, old and new, will need to switch away from fossil fuels to clean electricity. Most buildings will need envelope upgrades, although some of the newest, highest performance buildings may already have high-performance envelopes and will only require fuel switching (buildings that currently have high-performance envelopes are not the target of the Deep Retrofit Challenge).

Net Zero Building

A net zero building is a highly energy-efficient building that does not use fossil fuels under normal operation, and is constructed with materials with low embodied carbon. Carbon emissions are either eliminated entirely or are minimal with low-carbon electricity used to meet the building’s energy needs. Carbon-free and/or renewable electricity is either produced on-site or purchased, with any remaining carbon emissions associated with the building’s operations reduced to net zero through a carbon offset.

Net zero buildings typically:

• have an air-tight, highly insulated roof and walls with high-performance windows
• have reduced occupant energy loads as much as possible through measures such as efficient Energy Star-rated appliances and LED lighting
• use electric heat pumps for heating and hot water
• have heat recovery systems, where suitable
• include electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• have integrated renewable electricity generation, such as solar or wind, where possible

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