The BC Retrofit Accelerator program has generated a massive response from building operators during its brief existence, SustainableBiz Canada reported.

More than 700 buildings are getting support from the non-profit program’s complimentary service launched about a year ago, according to the report. The program is operated by the non-profit Zero Emissions Innovation Centre, which started up in 2021.

“There is clearly a need for support,” Roberto Pecora, ZEIC’s director of building decarbonization, told Sustainable Biz.

The service is being accessed from northern B.C. all the way down to Vancouver, he added.

“It’s a significant initiative, and it’s really meant to fulfill a need — a gap — that we identified early on . . . for support of decarbonized buildings, whether it’s multi-family buildings . . . or commercial buildings,” he told told Sustainable Biz.

The program serves four streams: Commercial buildings, market-residential properties, non-profit housing and strata-owned condominium assets, Sustainable Biz reported. Participants apply under their relevant streams.

“A big part of this was there were a number of . . . disjointed pilots, or different pilots for different sectors,” Darla Simpson, the program’s senior manager told Sustainable Biz. “When we did a market scan, we realized that we could do better together, so we could stop some of the duplication, we could learn from each other, and we could do this better and faster if we had a more coordinated effort.”

The program is funded by Metro Vancouver, Natural Resources Canada and the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.

According to Sustainable Biz, the accelerator focuses on using technologies like heat pumps, EV chargers, electric water heaters and distributed renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic systems for on-site electricity generation. The program also advises building operators on overheated building envelopes and internal cooling systems.

Thus far, the program has provided several “opportunity-assessment” reports to participants.

The reports are typically plans that highlight opportunities to include decarbonization technologies in existing capital projects or renovations. 

Pecora advised interest building operators and strata leaders to check out the accelerator’s website to determine their category and the type of support needed, and then get in touch.

He described the program as a “hand-holding service.”

“We’re boots on the ground,” he told Sustainable Biz.

Photo: ZEIC