Timeline: 2022 onwards
In 2022, the Regional Municipality of Durham launched its Durham Greener Homes program, which is designed to help homeowners in the Region overcome the challenges of completing energy retrofits by providing support throughout the home retrofit journey.
Program participants gain access to a home energy coach who will provide impartial expert advice throughout the renovation process, including:
- Completing an in-home energy assessment
- Identifying eligible retrofits, including insulation, heating and cooling equipment, rooftop solar, and in-home electric vehicle charging stations
- Selecting qualified contractors
- Accessing utility and government cash-back rebates
Durham Region has partnered with the Windfall Ecology Centre to administer the program and provide home energy coaching services. Windfall is a non-profit organization with decades of on-the-ground experience delivering home energy retrofits. The program also partners with community-based financial institutions – Pathwise Credit Union and Rapport Credit Union – that offer energy retrofit financing services to participating residents.
In December 2022, the Region of Durham introduced the Deep Retrofit Rebate, which provides participating residents with up to $10,000 in incentives for reducing their home’s greenhouse gas emissions. This rebate can be combined with other incentives from Enbridge Gas and the Canada Greener Homes Grant program. When combined, up to $20,000 in cash rebates are available to Durham residents.
The Region is also partnering with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) to launch the Towards Net Zero Renovations Project to further develop the Durham Greener Homes Program. The project is seeking participants in Durham who want to upgrade their homes to Net Zero Energy or Net Zero Energy Ready.
2023 update:
Completed almost 200 renovations and delivered more than 500 energy coaching calls to support residents with their home energy retrofits through the Durham Greener
Homes program.
2024 update:
A new Virtual Home Energy Assessment Tool (vHEAT) was developed for the Durham Region as part of the Durham Greener Homes Program. vHEAT uses artificial intelligence to produce a digital energy score to help users understand how much energy their home consumes compared to homes of similar size, age, and type. The tool also provides each homeowner with a customized “retrofit road map” showing how they can reduce energy consumption, resulting in cost-savings.
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Municipality: Durham Region
Action: Retrofit of dwellings
Category: Buildings