Just launched: Carbon Emissions Inventory 2024
Around half of Toronto’s carbon emissions come from buildings. That means that improving energy efficiency is key to bringing down our city’s climate pollution. But not all buildings are created equal. A large part of Toronto’s population lives in over 2,000 high-rises that were built between 1950 and 1980. These highly energy inefficient buildings are […]
Ontario’s Green Investment Fund is committing $325 million to projects that will reduce emissions, grow the economy and create jobs. In recent weeks, four major announcements have focussed on amping up investment in energy retrofits of homes and social housing, proliferating electric vehicles, and sparking clean tech innovation. Investment in energy efficiency is laudable and essential […]
Ontario has a long way to go to reach its conservation goals and heat pumps may be a great opportunity to reduce emissions and save money on a massive scale. We’re exploring how heat pumps might tackle GHGs by targeting the low-hanging fruit. About 24% of Ontario’s multi-unit residential buildings are electrically heated, so while […]
Guest blog post by Jose Etcheverry, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University As world leaders meet in Paris to negotiate solutions to climate change, what are communities doing on the ground to find practical local solutions to a global problem? Fossil-fueled transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse […]
For the 27 million Canadians living in cities, it’s notable that the new Liberal government has made some important commitments to urban sustainability. The Party’s on-line election platform has an overwhelming raft of content, So we’ve put together a summary of the key elements that focus on climate change, cities, and the low-carbon economy. We hope this record of the tangible commitments made during the election can act as a reference point for measuring this government’s progress over time.
Last week, Toronto City Council passed the Green Market Acceleration Program (GMAP) for a two-year pilot period. Run collaboratively by the Toronto Office of Partnerships and Economic Development and Culture, GMAP will allow local businesses to apply to the City to use city infrastructure for applied research, proving concepts and demonstrating new technologies developed here in Toronto.
Homes and businesses in the Greater Toronto Area are experiencing deep energy savings by harvesting ground heat with geothermal heat pump (AKA geoexchange) systems. With energy savings of 30-70% and 20-95% for space heating and cooling respectively, it is no wonder this emerging technology is experiencing increased interest across Canada.
Heating homes and buildings account for over one third of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from natural gas-burning furnaces and boilers. Achieving Toronto’s 2050 climate targets will require transitioning from natural gas to cleaner technologies, which has motivated TAF to explore the performance of heat pumps.
