Two distinct, but complementary new federal programs promise funds for community buildings. Both are focused on meeting GHG reduction targets and are aligned with a pledge to invest $15 billion to address climate change and boost the green economy.

The winning effort will be incorporated into a planned year of active messaging on the theme that energy efficiency is the foremost step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

More than 110 industry associations, building service/product providers and public advocacy and community development groups are voicing support for no-cost incentives targeted specifically to low-income households.

A new slate of conservation and demand management (CDM) programs allocates $456 million for commercial, institutional and industrial consumers over the four-year period from 2021-24.

Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia are the top spenders to alleviate energy cost pressures on low-income households among Canadian provinces.

Efficiency Canada’s second annual provincial scorecard takes a detailed look at commitment, outcomes and potential related to 42 energy efficiency indicators, and charts progress, or backsliding, against last year’s results.

While teams are still focused on an electricity-saving target, the race2reduce, sponsored by BOMA Toronto, has now expanded its mandate to include water, gas, solid waste and overarching climate leadership.

The newly renovated and retrofitted 42-year-old office building is intended to embody the global society’s mandate to advance human well-being through sustainable technology in the built environment.

The 2020 race2reduce field boasts more than 1,730 buildings encompassing 248 million square feet of space in common areas and tenant premises — an increase from 650 buildings covering 95 million square feet in 2019.

A promised $2 billion investment in large-scale building retrofits will be central to the Canadian government’s job creation ambitions. Energy efficiency champions have plenty of ideas of how and where the funds could be best leveraged.

Natural Resources Canada is offering subsidies to implement the ISO 50001 energy management systems standard in commercial and institutional buildings.

A $27-million joint Canada-Nunavut investment will underwrite retrofit measures and renewable energy installations in 45 government buildings in six communities throughout the South Baffin region

Residential consumption is identified as a primary concern and opportunity for the 2021-24 period, along with a continued emphasis on reducing system-wide peak demand

Potential litigants filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue, urging U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to move forward with reviews and/or amendments of standards related to 25 categories of consumer, commercial and industrial products.

A temporary adjustment to Ontario’s electricity pricing scheme eliminates cost-saving opportunities that many operators of large commercial buildings were anticipating this summer.

The City of Winnipeg has invited commercial building owners and institutional facility managers to affix their Energy Star Portfolio Manager results on a publicly accessible map.

The timing might have been opportune for uptake of the measure — provided it was adopted into provincial and territorial building codes — because it would have applied broadly in what is currently Canada’s most buoyant commercial real estate sector.