Social housing rebates now run by BC Hydro
What you need to know about the handover from BC Housing
To help add a bit more technical rigour to greenhouse gas savings calculations, CleanBC's social housing incentives program is now administered by BC Hydro.
Formerly handled by BC Housing, the popular program now requires specific calculations around GHG emission savings, along with an analysis of electrical load impacts. BC Hydro's engineers have developed a workbook to help with that process.
"There's now going to be more of a formal study requirement to help manage and track the GHG savings for CleanBC," says Tanya Perewernycky, Alliance program manager.
The CleanBC Social Housing Incentives Program (SHIP) offers energy study funding of up to $5,000, project implementation support of up to $7,000, and GHG reduction/retrofit incentives of up to $200,000. BC Hydro is offering top-up funding of up to $7,000 to conduct electrical load analysis and offset capital costs related to electrical system upgrades for low carbon electrification projects.
What isn't changing is the important role that BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA) energy managers will play in projects.
"These energy managers are the quarterbacks of the projects, because they typically work directly with housing societies," says Perewernycky. "We recommend that they coordinate projects to ensure they're properly handled through our system processes."
The program is open to non-profit housing societies, housing co-operatives, or municipal housing authorities that operate multi-unit residential buildings.
Fuel switching incentives are based on a rate of $70 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tC02e) of lifetime GHG savings up to a maximum of 75% of a project's incremental cost. Eligible fuel-switching measures include air-to-water heat pump water heaters, air-to-air rooftop heat pumps, sewage heat recovery heat pumps, high-efficiency (>75%) heat recovery ventilator (HRV), electric water heaters, air-source variant refrigeration flow (VRF), and electrical cooking equipment.
Building envelope, electrical system upgrades available
CleanBC rebates for building envelope upgrades, up to a maximum of $200,000 per customer project, include roof insulation, wall insulation, and windows. Eligibility for incentives is dependent on an approved energy study, which is reviewed by BC Hydro's Conservation and Energy Management (CEM) engineering group.
Electrical system upgrade incentives are offered to offset the cost of implementation of energy measures specifically associated with required electrical upgrades. The incentives are on top of the CleanBC capital incentives, and can cover up to 100% of the cost of upgrading the building electrical system.