Victoria and Saanich Team Up with Zero Emissions Innovation Centre to Help Strata Condo Buildings Go All-Electric

News release
For immediate release

VICTORIA — Today, the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) launched the Strata Energy Advisor program, which will provide in-depth support for busy strata councils interested in bringing climate and energy upgrades to their buildings.

This free service is open to residential multi-unit strata buildings (condos) across the province. The City of Victoria and District of Saanich are providing funding for additional program spaces and support in their communities, reinforcing their commitment to supporting healthy, comfortable, and energy-efficient buildings for residents.

“Across BC, condo residents are asking for better cooling and ventilation and more energy efficient homes,” says Melina Scholefield, Executive Director of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre. “Solutions like heat pumps, electric water heating, and distributed renewable energy systems can meet these needs while reducing GHGs. However, many strata councils don’t know where to start—that’s where the Strata Energy Advisor comes in.”

The Strata Energy Advisor program will provide hands-on guidance for strata councils from start to finish. This includes identifying retrofit opportunities aligned with major capital renewals, navigating technology and financing options, and supporting implementation.

Overall, ZEIC’s Strata Energy Advisor program aims to provide decarbonization plans for 260 condo buildings across BC over the next three years, with more than 60 directly supported by the City of Victoria and District of Saanich.

The Strata Energy Advisor is being undertaken in partnership with the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC (CHOA BC) and is part of ZEIC’s new BC Retrofit Accelerator Program.

For more information and to apply for the program, visit strataenergyadvisorbc.ca

Supporting quotes:

Condominium Home Owners Association of BC

“Stratas have a lot of questions about managing long-term renewals, adding cooling and EV charging, improving energy efficiency and fuel-switching,” said Tony Gioventu, Executive Director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC. “Through the Strata Energy Advisor program, strata corporations and managers will have a support service that helps evaluate their financial and energy management options to make informed decisions when updating their buildings.”

City of Victoria

“We want to help homes across Victoria go all-electric to help save energy, make them more comfortable for people and lower energy bills,” said Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto. “Victoria has many condo buildings and the Strata Energy Advisor Program will help strata councils navigate upgrades, new technology and incentives while also cutting Victoria’s carbon emissions.”

District of Saanich

“We want to make it easier for residential multi-unit strata buildings in our community to make energy-efficient upgrades, and this new Strata Energy Advisor Program will help simplify what can be a complex process for these large buildings,” says Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock. “With this level of guidance and support, stratas can more confidently move forward with retrofits that bring cost savings and more comfortable homes for the people who live in them — and help the District achieve its climate targets at the same time.”

About ZEIC: The Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) is an independent, non-profit and charitable organization established to help catalyze and advance ambitious and innovative climate action in the Metro Vancouver region and beyond.

-30-

Media Contact
Keane Gruending
Director of Communications
Zero Emissions Innovation Centre
Keane.Gruending@zeic.ca

Saanich Communications
media@saanich.ca

Backgrounder: About the Strata Energy Advisor

-The Condominium Home Owners Association of BC is a consumer based non-profit association that promotes the understanding of strata property living and the interests of strata property owners. ZEIC is partnering with CHOA BC in the development and delivery of the Strata Energy Advisor program.

-There are approximately 11,000 residential strata Multi-Unit Residential Buildings (MURBs) in BC, representing 680,000 households. These strata MURBs house more than 1.5 million people and represent 24 per cent of the province’s residential housing stock.

-The City of Victoria and District of Saanich are the most populous communities in the Capital Region, with 1,078 residential strata buildings equating to 30,355 households.

-Existing buildings account for 51 and 31 per cent of community GHG emissions in Victoria and District of Saanich, respectively.

-The Strata Energy Advisor program complements the CleanBC MURB Retrofit program by providing ongoing, comprehensive coaching services to strata councils including identifying relevant incentives provided through the MURB Retrofit program.

-The Strata Energy Advisor is part of the BC Retrofit Accelerator, which is funded by Natural Resource Canada’s Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative, the Ronald S Roadburg Foundation, Metro Vancouver, ZEIC, and other contributors. Specific funds for the Strata Energy Advisor program have been contributed by the City of Victoria, District of Saanich and BC Hydro.

Requirements
To be eligible for the Strata Energy Advisor program the building must fulfill the below requirements:

• be based in BC; and
• have an upcoming end of life replacement project; and
• have natural gas for heating, hot water, ventilation, or fireplaces; and participants must be interested in electrifying one or more of these systems.
• For the wider provincial program, the building must be four or more stories above ground OR greater than 600 m2 floorplate (roughly 30 units or more).  
• In the City of Victoria or District of Saanich, there are additional spaces for buildings that have five or more units, including those interested in switching from electric baseboard heating to heat pumps.