Hamilton opens home energy survey to support green-friendly retrofits

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Published October 14, 2022 at 3:54 pm

Some six years after a HERO program was first proposed in Hamilton, the city is asking homeowners what they want out of that initiative.

The city is giving homeowners, from now till Oct. 24, a change to take a survey about the design of the city’s forthcoming home-energy retrofit program (known as HERO). Such programs provide homeowners with low-interest loans in order to pay for energy conservation and quality-of-life improvements to their homes. Hamilton uses that model to helps homeowners replace lead pipes, with loan repayments being added to property taxes. Hamilton is considering that model for HERO.

Hamilton is among the most vulnerable areas in Canada to extreme heat events, which escalate and last longer due to climate change. The energy used to heat water and homes in the residential sector accounts for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Hamilton-Burlington area.

The city says HERO program give homeowners and their families a chance to consume less energy and be more comfortable.

“By improving the energy efficiency of your building you can potentially reduce utility consumption and therefore save money,” the city says. “Making your building more airtight you can live more comfortably, especially during really cold or hot days.”

Climate activists in Hamilton have been advocating for a HERO program since 2016, when City of Hamilton were first directed to look at the feasibility of a program that helps people afford make their houses less carbon-intensive and more green-friendly.

Renters’ groups, including ACORN Hamilton, have also been calling for bylaws to regulate the heat in apartment buildings during the warmer months.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is providing funding to complete the program, which the city is designing with contributions from the Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College.

The federal government also has a greener homes grant program. The energy firm Enbridge also has home-efficiency rebate and home winterproofing programs.

No similar program exists at the provincial level. Three of the four parties that have seats at Queen’s Park included promises about home energy efficiency in their platforms during the lead-up to the June 2 provincial election.

The Ontario New Democratic Party promised to introduce an energy-efficient building retrofit program to help families and businesses with the cost of retrofitting their homes and lowering electricity bills.

The Ontario Liberal Party said it would update the building code to require new buildings and renovations to be held to energy efficiency and climate resiliency standards by 2025.

The Green Party of Ontario said it would offer homeowners a grant of up to $15,000 to $20,000 to cover green retrofits such as heat pumps and improved insulation.

No similar promise was made by the PC Party of Ontario, which retained a majority government under Premier Doug Ford.

The Hamilton Home Energy Survey is available at engage.hamilton.ca.

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