Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

smaller-scale municipal infrastructure projects that improve the quality of life, sustainable
development and economic opportunities of smaller Canadian communities. The budget
for this program is $1 billion and it seeks to improve and increase the stock of core public
infrastructure in areas such as water, wastewater, cultural preservation and recreation, and
improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for smaller communities and First
Nations settlements. Finally, the Infrastructure Canada Program (ICP) was created in
2000 to enhance infrastructure in Canada’s urban and rural communities and to improve
quality of life through investments that protect the environment and support long-term
community and economic growth. Virtually all of ICP’s $2.05 billion budget has already
been committed and more than 3,500 ICP-funded projects have been announced.
Company energy conservation & green building incentives:
Certain companies are also doing their part to promote energy conservation and green
building in Canada. For instance, Manitoba Hydro has created a Power Smart Program,
with the intention of meeting energy needs through efficiency improvements rather than
through new sources of generation. Apart from the educational materials available,
ranging from how to retrofit a home to energy efficient products and practices, financial
assistance in the form of loans and grants are also available to customers making home
efficiency improvements. Loans of between $500-7,500 are available per residence, with
the maximum term being 5 years. Minimum monthly payments are $15, and are included
on the residence’s energy bill. Grants can be of varying amounts and are made at
Manitoba Hydro’s discretion. Buyers of new Power Smart homes can receive up to $600
toward their electricity bill or $1,000 toward a front-loading washing machine. The
Power Smart Program is also available to commercial and industrial customers, but most
of the incentives apply to residential buildings. Terasen Gas, BC’s largest natural gas
provider, offers customers the Efficient Boiler Program in order to help them save money
and decrease the demand for natural gas through financial incentives for energy efficient
heating systems. For all participants, the purchase price incentive applies to the
incremental purchase price of a natural gas near-condensing or condensing boiler over the
purchase price of a standard-efficiency boiler. Purchase price incentives are based upon
space-heating and ventilating load. They will be calculated as follows: $4,000 for nearcondensing
boilers plus $3 per MBH plant input (MBH means Thousand BTU’s per Hour,
a measure of heat used), and $6,000 for condensing boilers plus $9 per MBH plant input.
The purchase price of a standard-efficiency boiler will be estimated using $7 per MBH of
the input required to meet the space-heating load and ventilating load. Terasen Gas will
also contribute 50% of a consultant’s fees to a maximum of $1,500 toward the cost of
analyzing the annual gas usage for space heating using a standard-efficiency boiler
system versus a higher efficiency boiler system. Furthermore, the company will pay a
contractor up to a maximum of $400 for performing an estimate of the annual weathernormalized
peak space heating load. Terasen will pay 50% of the cost of necessary
venting modifications up to a maximum of $2,000. They will also pay a monitoring
incentive of $1,500 during the first year of operation plus $1 per gigajoule of energy
saved. Purchase price incentive payments are limited to a maximum of 50% of the
purchase price premium over a standard-efficiency boiler.
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