April 2016. Buildings are a major source of Canada’s carbon emissions, especially in urban areas. An innovative heating and cooling technology called heat pumps could help lower building emissions significantly. Instead of burning natural gas for heating, air pumps utilize the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor environment (air, ground, water). While heat pumps are […]
Issue: Energy Efficiency and Conservation
ASHRAE Paper Pre-Retrofit Resident Comfort in Multi-Residential Buildings
February 2016. City of Toronto. Post-war multi-unit residential buildings in Toronto region often provide poor resident comfort due to overheating and excess moisture, TAF research as part of the TowerWise program shows. In this academic paper for the 2016 ASHRAE Annual Conference, TAF’s Bryan Purcell and Ekaterina Tzekova, together with two University of Toronto researchers, […]
Pumping Energy Savings Market Characterization Study Web
February 2016. Government of Ontario. Heat pumps are a highly efficient heating and cooling technology that could significantly reduce carbon emissions in electrically heated buildings. This TAF study explores the energy savings and emissions reduction potential that the accelerated adoption of heat pump technology offers in Ontario’s electrically-heated multi-unit residential building (EMURB) sector. This market […]
Joint Submission Federal Building Energy Efficiency Policy 2016
August 2016. Government of Canada. Requesting “a bold national action plan for energy efficient buildings”, the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, Pembina Institute, and TAF sent a joint letter with recommendations to the federal government. Key recommendations include the setting of ambitious federal goals, accessible energy use data, and improved building codes. The letter to the […]
Backgrounder Efficiency Capital Corporation
January 2015. This background document outlines the importance of Efficiency Capital Corporation (EC), a for-profit, energy efficiency-focused investment company which TAF incubated. EC plays an important role in TAF’s strategic plan to mobilize private capital for low-carbon solutions. EC was developed to address key barriers to implementing energy efficiency retrofits for large buildings.
Low-Carbon Policy Priorities
March 2015. This TAF report identifies best practices in low-carbon policy advocacy as well as a selection of high impact policy opportunities at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. The research was intended primarily to guide TAF’s future funding and program priorities, and is therefore focused on policy options which would have a significant impact […]
Global Heat Pump Performance Review
April 2015. This report offers a global performance review for heat pump technology. It compares current research findings with an emphasis on multi-unit residential buildings (MURB). The report was compiled by TAF staff in collaboration with graduate students at Western University.
TAF Report EnergyXchange Urban Heat Exchange Systems
January 2015. This TAF report, with the support of the Donner Foundation, summarizes the results of several TAF-supported research, analysis and communications projects. The main conclusion is that energy exchange systems – including ground- and air-source heat pumps – are a key and strategic technology to reduce carbon emissions from buildings.
Building Value Federal Energy Efficiency Policy Options
January 2015. Government of Canada. TAF’s Building Value initiative facilitated the exchange of knowledge and best practices in the area of building energy efficiency policy and financing support. This report addresses the barriers to energy efficiency and discusses diverse benefits from pursuing energy efficiency. It also provides key recommendations for federal action in three areas: […]
ESPA Brochure
January 2015. To make it easier for building operators to access capital for energy efficiency retrofits, TAF created an innovative, non-debt financing instrument called Energy Saving Performance Agreement (ESPA). The brochure explains the clear benefits of ESPAs and how the financial product is licensed to Efficiency Capital as TAF’s exclusive partner.
