OPEN Technologies Supports BC Retrofit Accelerator to Deliver Virtual Decarbonization Plans to Strata Corporations Across British Columbia
OPEN Technologies and the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) are thrilled to announce their agreement to deliver Virtual Decarbonization Plans (VDPs) to 100 buildings across British Columbia through the Strata Energy Advisor program, part of the BC Retrofit Accelerator (BCRA). This collaboration represents a significant step forward in accelerating building decarbonization across the province, helping building owners and occupants to better understand their buildings and take practical steps toward reducing emissions through meaningful retrofits.
About the BC Retrofit Accelerator (BCRA)
The BC Retrofit Accelerator (BCRA) includes a collection of coaching programs that help building owners and managers across BC to plan and move forward with energy efficiency and low-carbon retrofit projects. The programs provide planning tools, technical support, and guidance to help reduce the complexity and cost of early-stage decision-making.
Within BCRA, the Strata Energy Advisor (SEA) stream is designed specifically to support strata corporations in planning major upgrades, enhancing comfort, finding financial incentives, and cutting carbon pollution. The Virtual Decarbonization Planner is offered as part of this SEA stream.
About ZEIC
The Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) is a regional non-profit organization helping communities in British Columbia transition to a zero-carbon future. Through programs like the BC Retrofit Accelerator, ZEIC supports building owners and industry professionals in scaling up high-performance retrofits, reducing emissions, and unlocking the potential of existing buildings.
About OPEN Technologies
OPEN Technologies (or just “OPEN”) specializes in streamlining the collection of building attribute and performance data to generate high quality decarbonization planning insights from a limited number of data points. Our Virtual Decarbonization Planner is designed to generate comparable retrofit planning insights for 1/10th the cost and 1/100th the time of traditional, engineer-led energy studies and decarbonization plans.
Building on Strong Foundations
This new agreement builds on OPEN’s earlier collaboration with ZEIC, including pilot deployments of the Virtual Decarbonization Planner and a 50-building contract that was recently extended. We are deeply grateful for ZEIC’s and its BCRA program’s continued confidence in our tools and in our shared approach to delivering practical, scalable pathways for decarbonization.
A Message from Our CEO
“We are incredibly excited to deepen our work with the BCRA. As a locally grounded program with a clear vision for accelerating retrofits, BCRA is exactly the kind of partner we love to collaborate with. Their leadership in British Columbia is helping create the momentum needed to transform existing buildings at scale. We’re honoured that they’ve chosen OPEN and the VDP to support that mission.”
— Donovan Woollard, CEO, OPEN
What Is the Virtual Decarbonization Planner?
Launched in 2024, the Virtual Decarbonization Planner (VDP) is a digital tool that helps property owners identify retrofit and renewal pathways faster and more cost-effectively than traditional consulting approaches.
The VDP is a decision support tool that turns data into action by rapidly identifying the most cost effective pathways to meet various levels of energy and emissions reduction. Users can generate, store, and share multiple retrofit pathway scenarios based upon various preferences, such as:
- Financial objectives (eg. project cost, incremental project cost, lifecycle cost, etc.)
- Performance objectives (eg. % reduction in energy or carbon, specific performance target, best outcome for a defined spend, etc.)
- Capital planning objectives (eg. single year deep retrofit project, multi-year factoring in remaining useful life of assets, multi-year factoring in operational impacts, and access to incentives)
By making the VDP available through the SEA stream, BCRA is expanding access to consistent, lower-cost planning support for strata communities across the province.
Looking Ahead
This work reflects a shared focus on improving access to practical planning tools for strata corporations across British Columbia. By integrating the Virtual Decarbonization Planner into the BC Retrofit Accelerator’s Strata Energy Advisor stream, more strata communities move from high-level interest toward informed, achievable retrofit action.