Burlington Council Gives Staff Greenlight to Develop Loan Program for Home Energy Upgrades
At our March 22 Council meeting, we unanimously approved a direction to have staff bring forward a business case as part of the 2023 budget process outlining the resources needed to support the implementation of a small-scale home energy efficiency retrofit program. This would help Burlington homeowners to improve home energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their homes and lower their carbon footprint.A proposed interest-bearing loan could be up to $10,000 per household for air source heat pump and leak sealing to improve energy efficiency. The program would require hiring a full time staff person to administer, supported by a marketing campaign and website Better Homes Burlington.Implementation of a home energy efficiency retrofit (HERO) program is one of the key program areas identified in the city's Climate Action Plan. Support for homeowners to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint will assist Burlington in becoming a net carbon neutral community and showing leadership on climate action.The plan includes a target of more than 50,000 existing homes (singles, semis and towns) requiring energy retrofits, including the installation of heat pumps. The program was developed in collaboration with the The Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College with support from the Bay Area Climate Change Centre.The Better Homes Burlington Recommendations Report proposal is a key measure identified in the city’s Climate Action Plan. The loan is part of a home energy retrofit program that would also include a virtual delivery centre, and support for homeowners and loans through a Local Improvement Charge (added to the tax bill). A maximum of 50 homes would be eligible during the pilot program.A survey of homeowners showed that the majority of homeowners would use their own means to finance home energy efficiency upgrades such as lines of credits and savings. However, the City of Burlington can offer a financing mechanism through a Local Improvement Charge (LIC) program as other municipalities like Toronto and Ottawa are doing.Advantages of a LIC loan include:
- that the loan is tied to the property and is paid back through property taxes;
- longer term financing (10 years) with affordable fixed rates;
- low income households may qualify for financing, addressing equity and home energy poverty issues; and
- can provide the necessary capital to address home energy efficiency and improve home comfort.
The City funded the study in the 2020 budget for $182,000, but was successful in receiving a grant of $100,000 from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Community Efficiency Financing initiative. The Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College also secured a $32,000 grant from The Atmospheric Fund to assist with the development of the business case for a Retrofit Delivery Centre to support residents interested in the program.Here is the motion that was unanimously approved at Council:
Receive and file appendix A of environment, infrastructure and community services report EICS-01-22– Better Homes Burlington: Recommendations report for City of Burlington Home Retrofit Program; and
Direct the Executive Director of Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services to bring forward a business case as part of the 2023 budget process for the resources required to support implementation of a small-scale home energy efficiency retrofit program including a virtual delivery centre/support for homeowners, and loans through a Local Improvement Charge (LIC) mechanism for Burlington homeowners to improve home energy efficiency and a lower carbon footprint as outlined in environment, infrastructure and community services report EICS-01-22; and
Direct the Executive Director or Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services to report back in 2023 with recommended program design elements, including a by-law to support the LIC loan, application, review and approval process, and loan agreement.
MY TAKE:I thank our City staff and the team who contributed to this very comprehensive piece of work. I absolutely support the program. In time, we will want to look at implementing an interest-free component or eligible grant programs to really help make this happen in our city, past the pilot program. When you look at the seriousness of climate change, a significant share of what contributes to it comes from vehicles and homes -- we really need to help incentivize the private sector and homeowners to participate in these types of programs.RELATED LINKS:
- Committee Meeting Minutes: Post-Meeting Minutes - EICS_Mar03_2022
- Council Meeting Minutes: Post-Meeting Minutes - Regular Meeting of Council_Mar22_2022
- Staff report: EICS-01-22 Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program
- Appendices:
- Presentations: