CBC: Edmonton launches retrofit loan pilot in bid to reduce emissions
“Peter Amerongen, a member of the city's Energy Transition Climate Resilience Committee, welcomes the program as a good start to a burgeoning industry.
Buildings are a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, Amerongen noted.
Deep energy retrofits at industrialized scale are absolutely essential for a habitable climate," Amerongen said. "Deep energy retrofits reduce the energy needs of the building enough so that it can be powered from renewable sources.
Amerongen noted that 70 to 80 per cent of the buildings in Edmonton will still be around in 2050 — the worldwide target date to stop the average temperature on the planet from rising by more than 1.5 C.
It's expensive to replace buildings, he noted, and the energy that goes into making and installing the materials would result in higher emissions.
Existing retrofit programs are often piecemeal and not effective, he noted, such as adding insulation without having airtight windows.”
