| | | | Recent news highlights the value of energy security and making better use of the energy resources we have. This month’s newsletter has info for community leaders and local governments on improving homes, community buildings, and vehicles to use less energy and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
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Announcements & Stories - Congrats to CEA Members
- Helping homeowners be more energy-efficient
- Costing retrofits at the community level
- Looking for climate-friendly homes
- Charging the North
- Fuels of the Future
Events & Meetings - Zero Carbon Step Code – new requirements
- Quick and easy ways to reduce electricity costs for local governments and Indigenous communities
- Peer Network meetings
| | | | | | | | Congrats to CEA Members!
Two CEA members – Saanich and Metro Vancouver – have won national awards from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for their leadership in sustainability. Saanich earned the award in the transportation category for their e-bike incentive program (which also previously earned them a CEA Climate & Energy Action Award) and Metro Van was named tops in community energy for their district energy projects and energy recovery policy.
The communities will be recognized at FCM’s Sustainable Communities Conference next week (Feb. 11) in Fredericton, NB.
If you’re not a CEA member and want to rub shoulders with award-winning communities, consider joining the CEA family. Get the low down on CEA membership or email us anytime with your inquiries.
| | | | | | Helping Homeowners be more Energy-Efficient
Retroftting an existing home to be more energy-efficient can make it a lot more comfortable and even more affordable. Rebates can help reduce the initial cost of upgrades and CEA is hosting a webinar later this month on the rebates and incentives available in BC from BC Hydro, FortisBC, and the Province.
BC Home Energy Rebates for Single Family Homes: Homeowner Information Session Wednesday, Feb 19, 2025 6:30 p.m. Pacific
Please share in your community!
For homeowners wondering what retrofits to prioritize, CEA has posted recordings from a series of webinars late last year that provide an intro to home energy retrofits. Check out the playlist on YouTube. | | | | | | Costing Retrofits at a Community Level
Estimating the cost of a retrofit at one house can be tough, but it’s nothing compared to a whole community, let alone four villages nearly 100km apart. Community-level information is critical to the Nisga’a Nation, which is working with CEA and regional contractors to develop a retrofit program to significantly improve housing in the four Nisga’a Villages north of Terrace in northwestern BC.
Working in collaboration with the Northern BC chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association and with the guidance of a national expert, CEA organized a workshop in December to determine what typical retrofits in the region would cost, incorporating local knowledge on scheduling, logistics, preferred materials, and labour costs.
The result is a shared understanding of what retrofits will really cost in the remote region, how the costs and benefits can be compared, and the potential spin-off economic benefits.
Want to learn more? Contemplating a similar exercise in your community? Check out this feature article. | | | | | | Looking for Climate-Friendly Homes
Across BC, homeowners are building and retrofitting houses to be more climate-friendly—that means they’ve reduced the energy use and carbon emissions from their homes. How? There are so many ways, and every home is a little different.
That’s why CEA, with funding from BC Hydro, and partners across BC, is holding the Climate Friendly Homes Tour on April 26, 2025.
It’s a chance for people to get out in their communities and visit their neighbours to discover all the different ways a home can use less energy and be climate resilient – whether its efficient heating, cooling and hot water systems, or added insulation and better windows, or innovative designs that make the most of sunshine and natural cooling techniques, and renewable energy generation with solar panels.
If you have a climate-friendly home, or if you can encourage others in your community to put their homes on the tour map, visit our website to learn how to include your home on the tour.
| | | | | | | | Charging the North
The transition to zero-emission vehicles is slower in northern and rural areas but it doesn't have to stay that way. In North-Central BC, a recent milestone related to electrification proves that collaboration between communities works and is critical to recognizing the needs of drivers in a region where transportation often accounts for nearly two-thirds of local greenhouse gas emissions.
Charge North, a network of EV-charging stations that was established by dozens of local governments, Indigenous communities, and tourism organizations working in collaboration with CEA, has now provided enough electricity through all 60 of its charging ports to enable one million kilometres of travel.
Learn more about this milestone and other improvements in EV-charging in rural and northern BC.
| | | | | | Fuels of the Future
CEA’s Megan Lohmann was on stage last month in Prince George, moderating a panel on transportation during the Future Fuels Forum. The event was organized by the City of Prince George to raise awareness and foster discussion on a variety of low-carbon fuels – some of which are now being produced in Prince George and around BC – and ways that they can be encouraged.
| | | | | | | | Getting ready to implement the Zero Carbon Step Code
Feb. 12, 2025 at Noon Pacific Register on Zoom
The first level of the Zero Carbon Step Code (ZCSC) will come into effect on March 10 and will require that builders report a new building’s modelled emissions or mechanical equipment. This “measure only” requirement is the first of four levels of the ZCSC.
Join the webinar to learn more about ZCSC implementation and have your questions answered by staff from CEA and the Government of BC’s Building and Safety Standards Branch.
The ZCSC, which regulates the actual operational emissions of buildings, is different from the BC Energy Step Code, which addresses the energy-efficiency of a building and its envelope. | | | | Quick and easy ways to reduce electricity costs for local governments and Indigenous communities
Feb. 19, 2025 at 10 a.m. Pacific Register on Zoom
Learn directly from BC Hydro about the following programs (including eligibility, application processes, and estimated savings): - Energy Wise Network – coaching and funding to implement an energy efficiency campaign
- Demand response – reducing demand during peak periods to earn credits
- Continuous Optimization – low-cost measures for operational savings
- Energy-Savings Incentives – up to 25% of the upfront costs for equipment or lighting upgrades
| | | | Peer network meetings
CEA convenes a variety of local government peer networks, mostly for staff in local, regional, and Indigenous governments. Check out the full roster and inquire about joining ones that interest you.
Here’s what’s coming up in February.
Community Buildings Retrofit Capacity Development Network Feb. 11, 2025 The cost of inaction: risks of not retrofitting.
Electric Mobility Peer Network Feb. 13, 2025
Embodied Emissions Peer Network Feb. 26, 2025 The business case for biogenic materials such as wood.
Step Code Peer Network Feb. 27, 2025
| | | | Our Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
The Community Energy Association commits to the principles of Truth and Reconciliation. As an organization, we support the Calls to Action released by the
Truth and Reconciliation Commision of Canada
and recognize the importance of the self determination of Indigenous Peoples as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. | | Thank you for subscribing to the CEA Newsletter, our monthly update on local climate and energy initiatives connected to the Community Energy Association. No longer interested? You can easily unsubscribe or update your preferences | | | | | |
