Transformative change: energy-efficiency and social housing retrofits in Canadian cities
Abstract
The article provides the first comparative assessment of the energy-efficiency retrofit programs in social housing of the largest cities in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, focusing on program efficiency and effectiveness. The analytical framework explores key policy instruments – regulatory, fiscal and institutional – in relation to major results achieved. In terms of efficiency, the grant programs were highly relevant, timely and successful in meeting their objectives generating improvements in two-thirds of the social housing in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The effectiveness was moderate, with targeted approaches to retrofits, integrating both mechanical and building envelope measures with high potential for energy savings. One of the greatest challenges was the high cost of the program, the lack of sustainability in funding and and the cost recovery of comprehensive retrofits..
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To reduce direct emissions from heating and cooling, governments, NGOs, and utility programs have directed some retrofit programs to lower income housing to enhance equity.
“To reduce direct emissions from heating and cooling, governments, NGOs, and utility programs have directed some retrofit programs to lower income housing to enhance equity (Reames 2016;Tsenkova 2018).”
From Making embodied carbon mainstream: a framework for cities to leverage waste, equity, and preservation policy to reduce embodied emissions in buildings (2023) · cites this paper as Tsenkova 2018
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Teicher, H. M. (2023) · Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences · doi:10.1007/s13412-023-00836-7 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
- Authors
- Tsenkova, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Tsenkova, Sasha
- ORCID
- Tsenkova, Sasha
- Venue
- Urban Research & Practice
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-04-04
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 263-274
- ISSN
- 1753-5069 (ISSN-L)
- 1753-5077
- OpenAlex
- W2796178735
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Urban Research & Practice (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian School of Energy and the Environment
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building energy efficiency and sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Housing Market and Economics
- Keywords
- energy retrofit, social housing, program efficiency, program effectiveness, housing grants, building envelope retrofit, energy conservation, sustainable funding, cost recovery, Canadian cities, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary
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