Initiative underway to accelerate retrofit economy

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), and the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) announced recently that they are working together to bring the Investor Confidence (ICP) Project and its Investor Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE) certification to Canada.

ICP is a global underwriting standard for developing and measuring energy efficiency retrofits and is administered by GBCI. Its IREE certification signals to investors that a project has adopted best practices that can help reduce transaction costs and increase savings. The protocols offer investors a consistent roadmap for assessing risk and expected outcomes from deep retrofits.

The IREE certification is currently being used by project owners, investors, engineers and insurance companies in North America and Europe. Energy efficiency programs such as Pacific Gas and Electric’s On-Bill Financing Program, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Pay4Performance Program, the Connecticut Green Banks Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, the United Kingdom’s Carbon and Energy Fund and others are also applying the IREE certification.

In the Pan-Canadian Framework, the Canadian federal government recognized the role that retrofitting buildings will play in reaching Canada’s targeted emissions reductions. The CaGBC and GBCI are bringing ICP to Canada to facilitate the mass retrofits required to achieve these goals. The IREE-certified projects will provide clarity on the long-term performance of energy efficiency technologies and provide the necessary assurance required to create greater access to competitive financing which will be necessary to achieve retrofits on a large scale.

“As our recent A Roadmap for Retrofits in Canada report found, Canada’s existing building stock has the potential to reduce overall building emissions by up to 51 per cent by 2030. The biggest barrier for the industry and ownership is access to financing,” says Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the CaGBC and GBCI Canada. “We believe that the ICP can play a critical role in the acceleration of Canada’s retrofit economy by instilling investor confidence in green retrofits and by providing a tested, ready-made tool that government and industry can leverage to accelerate uptake across the country.”

Supported by the Ministry of Energy in Ontario, the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS is partnering with CaGBC and GBCI to pilot the ICP methodology for the Canadian market. The pilot will bring together a multi-sectoral group that includes owners, government, engineering firms, utilities and financial institutions with the goal of determining how ICP can help facilitate more retrofits in Canada. The pilots will also help inform the accreditation and certification services for Investor Ready Energy Efficiency projects, which will be delivered by GBCI Canada. The next steps for the ICP program in Canada will be the recruitment of Canadian projects for IREE certification in February 2018, and then the initiation of a pilot in summer 2019.

For questions or inquiries regarding participation in the ICP Canada Pilot Program contact Shawn Peterson, speterson@marsdd.com.