The ZEBx Podcast ZEBx: The Zero Emissions Building Exchange

Season 4, Episode 2

Recorded on Mar 8, 2024

It’s widely recognized that addressing new buildings alone will not be enough to get us to our emissions reduction targets. Deep building retrofits are a crucial component of the decarbonization transition. 

At our March 2024 Decarb Lunch we heard about two ongoing deep retrofit projects from the perspectives of a designer and an owner. Speakers were from Pembina, LHRA, Pacifica Housing, and Metro Vancouver Housing, and they gave key takeaways relating to process, procurement, retrofit bundling, and more. The core intentions and high-level learnings from the Reframed Initiative were discussed with an emphasis on those relevant to the industry at large.

This webinar is also offered as part of the Passive House Accelerator’s Reimagine Buildings ‘24 online conference of which ZEBx is a community partner. Please check out the conference agenda here

Thanks to the financial support of ⁠BC Hydro⁠ and the ⁠City of Vancouver⁠, this January Decarb Lunch was free of charge.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View the slide deck here to accompany this podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Speakers:

Christopher Rowe, Principal at Low Hammond Rowe Architects Inc

Ian Scott, Director of Community Real Estate and Asset Strategies at Pacifica Housing

Ross Arbo, Housing Technician at Metro Vancouver Housing



Hosts:

Natalie Douglas, Program Manager, ZEBx

Betsy Agar, Director of the Buildings Program at Pembina Institute



Podcast Recording, Editing and Production:

Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC



- ZEBx is a program area of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) -

Season 4, Episode 1

Recorded on Jan 26, 2024

To ensure we are effectively decarbonizing the building sector, we need energy and GHG performance data. We also need to ensure that the building sector (especially non-profit housing providers), can utilize this data in a cost and time-effective manner to develop practical and effective decarbonization plans.

In our January Decarb Lunch webinar, hear about the systems that one local technology company (OPEN Technologies) has developed to address these issues of data tracking and decarbonization planning. RDH discussed how virtual solutions like OPENs help reallocate scarce expertise and project budgets for maximum effectiveness.

Thanks to the financial support of BC Hydro and the City of Vancouver, this January Decarb Lunch was free of charge.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View the slide deck here to accompany this podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Speakers:

Donovan Wollard, Chief Executive Officer, OPEN Technologies

Christian Cianfrone, Chief Decarbonization Officer, Open Technologies

Brittany Coughlin, Regional Director – Canada East, Energy & Sustainability Specialist, RDH

Hosts:

Natalie Douglas, Program Manager, ZEBx

Jade Hume, Division Manager of the Housing Maintenance and Capital Projects team, Metro Vancouver Housing



Podcast Recording, Editing and Production:

Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC



- ZEBx is part of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) -

Season 3, Episode 8

Recorded on Nov 24, 2023

When it comes to retrofitting a home, replacing a gas furnace or water heater with a heat pump will result in additional electrical load requirements. If adding electrified equipment to an existing electrical panel results in exceeding the existing panel capacity, these retrofits could result in additional costs to a homeowner. But, what if these costs could be avoided/reduced? A B2E article from March 2022 summarized research findings on this very topic.

The November Decarb Lunch featured presentations from two speakers on several pilot projects that are optimizing electrical capacity within homes. Thanks to the financial support of BC Hydro and the City of Vancouver, this event was free of charge.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View the slide deck here to accompany this podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Speakers:

Frank Crawford, Energy Efficiency Consultant

Tim Mosley, Sr Program Manager, Innovation and Delivery, BC Hydro

Hosts:

Melissa Williams, Climate Action Advisor, Technical Safety BC 

Gord Durocher, Electrical Senior Safety Officer, Technical Safety BC 

Mariko Michasiw, B2E Program Manager, ZEIC 

Podcast Recording, Editing and Production:

Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC



- ZEBx is part of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) -

ZEBx hosts this podcast. B2E, alongside ZEBx, CLF BC and NearZero are all part of the ZEIC family.



Overview:

This free B2E webinar featured four speakers from BC Hydro addressing concerns related to building electrification.

To meet national, provincial, and local climate targets, our buildings, transportation, and industry need to shift to low-carbon technologies and energy. In British Columbia, we have a unique advantage. 98% of our electricity is generated from clean and renewable sources. In all sectors, the switch from fossil fuels to clean electricity is a critical strategy to reduce the province's greenhouse gas emissions.

BC Hydro provides electricity to 95% of the province and has over five million customers. BC Hydro is taking action to prepare for the electricity needs of the future from the electrification of buildings, transportation, and industry. The speakers addressed some important questions related to building electrification:


Is BC ready for electrification?
How will BC Hydro meet our future electricity needs?
Does the building industry have a role to play in helping BC Hydro meet the future electricity demand?

Resources:

Season 3, Episode 7

Recorded on Oct 17, 2023

BC’s green building community has been targeting operational emissions reductions for many years now – in both new and existing buildings. And we’re getting the swing of it, slowly but surely. But did you know that embodied emissions reductions are just as important? A key strategy to reduce embodied emissions is ensuring that we keep building materials out of landfills. To achieve this circular built environment, we can relocate buildings or we can disassemble them, reusing as many components as possible in a new building.

At this Decarb Lunch event, ZEBx and CLF BC were joined by Light House, author of A Blueprint for Change: Preventing Demolition Waste Through Home Relocation and Deconstruction, and the reigning champion of building deconstruction, Unbuilders.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View the slide deck here to accompany this podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Speakers:

Gil Yaron, Managing Director, Circular Innovation, Light HouseAdam Corneil, CEO & Founder, Unbuilders



Hosts:

Natalie Douglas, Program Manager, ZEBx

Caroline Butchart, Program Manager CLF BC



Podcast Recording, Editing and Production:

Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC



- ZEBx is part of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) -

Season 3, Episode 6

Recorded on Sep 21, 2023

As governments begin focusing their emissions-reduction plans, policies and regulations on existing buildings, the market is responding. The demand for retrofit-related services and products is growing, but so is the supply. Efficiency Capital, Canada’s first Energy-as-a-Service company, provides up to 100% of the capital required by building owners to facilitate their energy efficiency upgrades, and does so through an innovative turnkey approach that is vendor and service agnostic, internationally certified, and meets the demands of small to mid-market asset owners as well as those of large commercial real estate investors, not-for-profits/affordable housing providers, and industry. 

ZEBx was joined by Efficiency Capital and Woodgreen Community Services for this event. Thanks to the financial support of BC Hydro and the City of Vancouver, this event is free of charge! 

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠View the slide deck here to accompany this podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Speakers:

Erin Ellis, Director, Development, Efficiency Capital

Mwarigha, Vice President of Housing, Homelessness, Asset Sustainability & New Development, WoodGreen



Hosts:

Roberto Pecora, Director, ZEBx

Darla Simpson, Program Manager Retrofits, ZEBx





Podcast Recording, Editing and Production:

Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC



- ZEBx is part of the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) -