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Call for Proposals – Greener Neighbourhoods pilot based on Energiesprong model

June 28, 2023 – The Government of Canada has issued a second Call for Proposals under the Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program, with a focus on deep energy retrofit Demonstration Projects.

“Retrofitting Canada’s buildings stock provides us with the opportunity to make communities more resilient to climate-related impacts while reducing emissions and utility bills, increasing energy efficiency and creating good-paying jobs in construction and maintenance,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources.

This call will support up to six aggregated deep energy retrofit projects in communities across the country. Targeting clusters of low-rise community housing buildings of 100 or more units per demonstration site, the proposals will explore “innovative, cost-effective pathways and construction approaches for more affordable and efficient building renovations”.

The program aims to accelerate the pace and scale of retrofits following the Energiesprong (“energy leap”) model adopted by the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States, explains Natural Resources Canada. This model aggregates homes and buildings in an entire neighbourhood into a single retrofit project, with the goal of reducing project costs along with energy consumption and emissions.

(Launched in the Netherlands, the Energiesprong model found savings in decarbonizing multiple buildings as a group using a prefab, panelized building envelope approach.)

The current Call for Proposals is open to housing providers (including social and affordable housing providers, and housing cooperatives), community groups, Indigenous applicants and local governments. Successful applicants could each receive up to 50% of the total project cost, with a maximum contribution of up to $10 million per project.

Applications will be accepted until September 14, 2023.

Deep energy retrofits undertake an analysis of an entire building to identify retrofit opportunities, such as adding insulation, replacing the roof, installing energy-efficient windows, or replacing the heating and cooling system with a heat pump.

These in-depth retrofits typically reduce energy consumption by at least 50%, says NRCan, and can result in significant GHG emissions reductions. They also reduce utility costs and operating expenses.