$20 million up for grabs from home energy retrofit program

Editor’s note: This story was first posted on www.hpacmag.com on January 29, 2014 but the City of Toronto reissued a news release with a fact sheet on March 25, 2014. New information is highlighted.

A financing tool has been launched by the City of Toronto to help residents improve energy efficiency and conserve water. The residential pilot Program is called the Home Energy Loan Program (HELP). The City will provide low interest loans to homeowners to complete the improvements and the homeowner will repay the loan through installments on their property tax bill. Ten million dollars in HELP funding is available for single family homes. Improvements supported by the three-year pilot program include: high efficiency furnace/boiler, central air conditioner, water heater; heat recovery/energy recovery ventilator; drain water heat recovery system; and toilet replacement. Property owners make payments through the tax bill over an agreed term. The payment obligation attaches to the property, not the owner, and transfers automatically to successive owners. By leveraging its borrowing power, the City is offering qualifying homeowners fixed interest rates starting at 2.5 per cent with payment terms of up to 15 years.

Additionally, incentives of up to $2,000 are available from Enbridge Gas, including a rebate to cover the cost of home energy assessments. An incentive of up to $650 is available from Toronto Hydro for furnace and air conditioner replacement. Incentives received by homeowners will be deducted from the amount of the HELP loan. The Residential Energy Retrofit Pilot Program, the multi-residential stream of the program, has a $10-million funding envelope and a participation target of approximately 10 buildings.