As with many complexities in life, when it comes to home decarbonization, two seemingly opposing things are true at once. First, we need to do this. Energy used in the operation of BC homes accounts for 12% of the province’s total carbon footprint…in urban areas like the City of Vancouver, that accounts for 60% of… Read more »
The second annual report for Building Benchmark BC is live at buildingbenchmarkbc.ca! A steadily growing number of British Columbia building owners are positioning their properties for forthcoming standards in building energy and carbon management by voluntarily reporting their emissions and energy use through the Building Benchmark BC program. The Building Benchmark BC Year Two Annual… Read more »
OPEN Technologies’ Affordable Housing Navigator is one of fourteen projects to receive implementation funding through CMHC’s Housing Supply Challenge. As watchers of this space may recall, in May 2021 the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) awarded OPEN Technologies $200,000 to develop a proof of concept for an Affordable Housing Navigator. The CMHC Housing Supply… Read more »
This past week, the City of Toronto City Council passed two distinct sets of regulations to improve the climate and energy performance of the city’s news and existing buildings. Here’s the scoop on each. Existing Buildings: The Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy What it Does First, the city passed the Net Zero Existing Buildings… Read more »
This past month, the Province of British Columbia awarded the Open Green Building Society—OPEN Technologies’ affiliate non-profit—$425,000 to grow Building Benchmark BC across the province and extend the initiative for a third year. Building Benchmark BC is one of 21 projects that received funding from the CleanBC Building Innovation Fund, which supports innovative low-carbon, energy-efficient… Read more »
Nova Scotia building owners and managers will soon have one-click access to detailed information on how their buildings are performing, helping them lower their properties’ greenhouse gas emissions. They will do so because in March we licensed our GRID benchmark and disclosure software to EfficiencyOne—the non-profit organization operating in Nova Scotia as Efficiency Nova Scotia.… Read more »
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently shortlisted OPEN Technologies as one of 21 organizations to receive funding under the first round of its Housing Supply Challenge. The federal crown corporation awarded us $200,000 to tackle a critical challenge to affordable housing supply: How can affordable housing providers reduce the number of cancelled projects… Read more »
Year 1 of Benchmark BC was a great success, showing the readiness of municipal and private sector owners to benchmark and disclose their performance. We exceeded our recruitment targets by doubling our number of partner jurisdictions and recruiting over 500 buildings… a total of almost 5 million square metres of gross floor area. Our participants… Read more »
Like many people around the world, our team at OPEN Technologies has watched the current struggles in American cities with horror and concern, coupled with admiration for the many brave people stepping in to demand real, fundamental change. And like so many young organizations with the privilege of distance and security from many of the… Read more »