Background

In July 2017, Windsor City Council approved the Community Energy Plan (CEP) with the vision to create economic advantage, mitigate climate change, and improve energy performance. The CEP strives to position Windsor as an energy centre of excellence that boasts efficient, innovative, and reliable energy systems that contribute to the quality of life of the residents and businesses.

Increasing Residential efficiency is critical to achieving CEP goals and addressing the climate emergency as Windsor has one of the oldest building stocks in the province. Older homes use significantly more energy and produce significantly more emissions than newer homes as older Ontario building codes did not have consideration for energy efficiency. These homes are often lacking basement, attic, and wall insulation and can have severe air leakage issues around door and window frames and at the connection between concrete foundations and wood house framing.

Why Important?

The energy we consume to heat, cool, and power our homes accounts for 23 per cent of Windsor’s total energy use and 18 per cent of Windsor’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to the 2019 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Windsor's residential profile is made of the following housing types:

• 65% Single detached
• 11% Semi-detached homes and row/townhouses
• 24% Multi-unit residential buildings (MURB)

Reducing energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in existing homes is one of the strategies outlined in the CEP.

Program Goals

In alignment with Strategy 1 of the CEP, the Residential Deep Energy Efficiency Retrofit (R-DEER) Program aims to:

• Retrofit 80% of all homes (single detached, semi-detached, and townhomes) built prior to 2018 and at least 20 years old at the time of application,
• Achieve an average of 20% improvement in water efficiency, 35% improvement in energy efficiency, and up to 60% reduction in GHG emissions per retrofit, and
• Offer standardized home retrofit packages to address the most common high-energy uses in homes (i.e. space heating, water heating, heat loss through the building envelope (i.e. walls, windows, doors, roofs, etc.)).

Program Development - what does it involve?

Development of the Residential Deep Energy Efficiency Retrofit program involves market research and community consultations with key stakeholders

• Research on similar programs in other communities to identify lessons learned including discussions with personnel involved in the implementation.
• Public survey(s) of Windsor residents on:
  • Their current energy use,
  • Their interest in reducing their energy usage and emissions, and
  • Barriers to making improvements and participating in the program.
• Consultations with trades, contractors/installers, home energy advisors, and equipment manufacturers who conduct business in the Windsor area for their perspective on completing retrofits over the next 3-5 years