There
are several electrical and natural gas incentives available for energy-saving
retrofits. Some of these incentives can provide a condominium with a rebate of
up to 50 per cent of the project costs.
If a
condominium is interested in electrical savings, the saveONenergy
programs are offered through local utilities and are funded through the Ontario
Power Authority (OPA). A wide variety of retrofits qualify under saveONenergy,
including lighting, carbon dioxide monitoring systems, controls, building
envelope, variable frequency drives and building automation systems.
There
are three different streams for the saveONenergy retrofits. The prescriptive
option allows a condominium to simply select from a list of measures that come
with a matching per-unit incentive. Through the engineering and custom tracks,
lighting retrofits are generally eligible for $0.05 per kilowatt-hour saved and
non-lighting retrofits are eligible for $0.10 per kilowatt-hour saved.
If a
condominium is interested in natural gas savings, Enbridge
offers incentive rebates for retrofits such as variable frequency drives or
building automation systems. Upon the successful implementation of an eligible
project, customers may receive an incentive payment based on a rate of $0.10
cubic metres of natural gas saved.
The
incentive application process for saveONenergy and Enbridge are similar: the
retrofit project must be approved prior to implementation. A condominium’s
application and specifications will be reviewed by an incentive program
technical advisor to ensure the retrofit meets the program requirements. Once
the retrofit project is complete, additional documents and site visits are
required.
Understanding
all the fine print of the incentive programs can be confusing but most energy
efficiency contractors will assist with the incentive application process as
part of their scope of work. Make sure to ask the contractor to estimate the
anticipated incentive and clarify who is responsible for the applications.
Although incentives have been available for years, it is surprising how many
condominiums are still not taking advantage of them.
