Environmental organization to grow green renovations sector in the Outaouais
by K.C. Jordan
GatineAU
May 7, 2024
An Outaouais environmental organization has received $462,000 from the federal Natural Resources department to develop an energy-efficient residential home renovations market in the region.
The Conseil régional de l’environnement et du développement durable de l’Outaouais (CREDDO), along with 12 regional partners including MRC Pontiac, will use the funding to grow the green renovations sector over the next three years.
“The objectives of this pilot project are to unite MRC/Municipalities, building owners and managers, developers, experts, and academics with the aim to create tangible benefits for the energy efficiency of the Outaouais building stock,” said Rachel Soar-Flandé, MRC Pontiac’s . . .
economic and housing development officer, in an email to THE EQUITY.
The building sector is responsible for 18 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, a number that considers the combustion of fossil fuels for space and water heating, as well as electricity used for cooling, lighting and appliances. In Quebec, residential buildings consume a third of all electricity produced.
“The pace of energy-efficient renovations needs to increase sevenfold if the sector is to reach carbon neutrality by 2050,” says the press release from CREDDO announcing the project.
There are many outdated buildings that could be targeted for this project, said Soar-Flandé, but several factors have been preventing their conversion, including high renovation costs, lack of expert labour, and poor public awareness about energy-efficient renovations.
Soar-Flandé said homeowners might have to wait before they see any money in the form of a grant, though.
She said the project “will be in contact with funding organizations concerning this pilot project. Renovations are costly, and funding incentives will need to be sought to alleviate the financial burdens on building owners and managers.”
She noted there are some grants already available to homeowners for energy-efficient renovations, including from Hydro Québec’s Logisvert program.
