Stories & features

The smart way to keep your building in shape

During the height of summer or winter, extreme temperatures often reveal a building's limitations, especially when it comes to energy consumption. So the continuous optimization (C-Op) program, offered in partnership with FortisBC, is designed to help you save electricity and gas to improve operations in large commercial buildings.

The C-Op program provides funding for an on-site investigation by an approved service provider to help improve the efficiency of your most energy-intensive systems, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Using a retro/recommissioning process, the program focuses on identifying and implementing simple, low-cost solutions without having to undertake major capital investments.

There are four commissioning scenarios:

• Commissioning: Tuning and calibrating systems in a new building to ensure it performs and operates as intended. This occurs at the time a new building becomes fully operational, typically before full occupancy.
• Retro-commissioning: Commissioning an existing building for the first time to ensure that systems are running optimally.
• Recommissioning: Tuning and calibrating systems in a previously commissioned building to determine whether your original commissioning meets your current needs and to ensure that systems are running optimally.
• Periodic recommissioning: Recommissioning on a periodic basis for the lifetime of the building. This is to ensure improvements last over time and to identify new opportunities as your facility and/or business changes.

Why is continuous optimization important?

Consider how your building's operations and occupancy may have changed over time – even in just the last five years.

The way many people work has changed dramatically since the pandemic. How does the number of people who use your building every day in 2025 compare to 2019?

We've also seen some significant environmental changes throughout the province during recent years, including wildfires, cold snaps, atmospheric rivers and heat domes. Have these impacted the way you heat and cool your building?

What kind of benefits might you expect?

As you might expect, there are multiple benefits to continuous optimization:

• Help your building stay healthy: Ensure your building continues to meet desired requirements under current operating parameters. We recommend making regular improvements through scheduled recommissioning starting four years after any previous C-Op project completion, in line with Natural Resources Canada and ASHRAE guidelines.
• Improve your building's performance: Save energy and operating costs by optimizing systems across your facility. On average, C-Op projects have led to ~5% electricity savings and 9% gas savings based on annual consumption. You can find more details for specific types of facilities on our program results page.
• Increase comfort for occupants: Determine how best to adjust your systems to match occupant behaviour, such as temperature and indoor air quality.
• Extend overall equipment life: Avoid unexpected failures by keeping systems in sync and operating as intended. This can also increase the asset value of your equipment – and the entire building.
• Achieve your sustainability goals: If your systems are continuously running as efficiently as possible, you'll be able to reach any electricity efficiency and carbon reduction targets faster.

A limited-time bonus for repeat participants

The C-Op program provides generous funding of up to $0.15 per square foot based on your building area. However, as the name suggests, continuous optimization is an ongoing process. So if you've participated in C-Op before, we're offering a limited-time bonus for repeat C-Op participants who apply to the program starting four years after the completion of their previous C-Op project. On top of the standard funding (up to $0.15 per square foot) which goes towards the cost of working with a service provider, we're also providing a limited-time bonus of $0.04 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)/year based on the final annual electricity savings from your C-Op project. Final savings are calculated from any previous active measures that you recommit to, along with any new opportunities that are identified and implemented as part of your next project.

Here's a simple breakdown of how the bonus works:

Are you eligible?

The key eligibility requirements for the C-Op bonus are as follows:

• Your facility must have already participated in the C-Op program and completed any previous C-Op projects four or more years ago.
• Your facility must be eligible for the standard C-Op funding offer.
• Applications must be submitted by March 30, 2026.
• Your C-Op project must be complete by March 12, 2027.

For additional eligibility criteria, please visit our C-Op page.

Is C-Op right for your facility?

To find out more about the continuous optimization, contact your Key Account Manager or Regional Energy Manager, or call 604 522 4713 in the Lower Mainland or 1 866 522 4713 elsewhere in B.C.