FortisBC Collaboration Completes Deep Energy Retrofit to Benefit Residents

FortisBC Energy Inc. (“FortisBC”), Pembina Institute, Metro Vancouver Housing and local government officials recently celebrated the completion of a deep energy retrofit pilot project at Manor House in North Vancouver. This was a collaborative project designed to help lower gas use, energy costs and associated emissions in a multi-unit residential building while making the spaces more comfortable for residents. The Honourable Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale and Minister of Infrastructure also visited the building to learn more about the project.

“We’re proud to celebrate this achievement with the organizations that were instrumental in completing this deep energy retrofit project at Manor House,” said Joe Mazza, vice president, energy supply and resource development, FortisBC. “We believe this project is a great example of how a high-performance gas retrofit can achieve gas and emissions savings on our path to support a lower carbon energy future. We are continuing to learn more about deep energy retrofits through our pilot program as part of the next generation of energy-efficiency rebates for our customers.”

Manor House is a Metro Vancouver Housing non-market rental building in North Vancouver. Older existing buildings can require significant upgrades to make them more energy efficient. Working with consultants like RDH Building Science Inc. SES Consulting Inc., FRESCo and AES Engineering through deep energy retrofit projects means organizations like FortisBC, the Pembina Institute and Metro Vancouver Housing can better understand how these upgrades help reduce gas use and lower associated emissions using a holistic approach.

The deep energy retrofit project at Manor House was a comprehensive upgrade of a 1970s-era, 50-unit wood-framed residential building. The building received energy-efficiency upgrades, including:

• new triple-glazed windows
• new air barrier and exterior wall insulation
• new roof membrane with added roof insulation
• gas heat pumps for both space heating and domestic hot water
• new in-suite heat recovery ventilation units
• new in-suite units that provide heating and cooling
• upgraded control systems

The project is currently in the measurement and verification phase. Based on project modelling to date for this site, energy savings are estimated at 55 per cent, gas savings are estimated at 69 per cent and emissions reductions around 68 per cent.¹ This project demonstrates a way forward to lower gas use by at least 50 per cent and associated emissions with high-performance gas retrofits that leverage the strengths of both the gas and electricity systems.

FortisBC is piloting deep energy retrofit projects in four commercial buildings and 20 residential homes across the province. Construction is complete for all the residential homes and three of the commercial buildings, including Manor House. The final commercial building is expected to complete construction later this year with all four buildings installing gas heat pumps to help improve energy efficiency. The pilot is designed to take a whole-building approach that makes improvements to the building envelope (outer shell) first, helping prevent heat loss and reduce heating demand, and then right-sizes the building’s space heating equipment. The information gained from this pilot will be invaluable in establishing the most effective, affordable ways to lower energy use in existing buildings and used to help inform future incentive programs.

The Manor House project is part of the Reframed Initiative, a collaboration led by the Pembina Institute and other regional organizations. The collaboration for this project between FortisBC and the Pembina Institute happened during the design phase of the project and shows how organizations are working together to advance emissions reductions in the building sector and gaining valuable insights into the performance of retrofit projects and customer experience. It is the first deep energy retrofit project to be completed under this initiative that is designed to transform how designers approach retrofitting multi-unit residential buildings to help lower emissions, energy waste, improve health and safety for residents and increase resilience to severe weather events.

Visit fortisbc.com/retrofit to learn more about FortisBC’s deep energy retrofit pilot program

Visit fortisbc.com/commercialheatpump to learn about the rebates available for gas heat pumps.