Ontario to spend $7-billion on new climate change plan

The province will begin phasing out natural gas for home heating, provide incentives to retrofit buildings and give rebates to drivers who buy electric vehicles. It will also require that gasoline sold in the province contain less carbon, will bring in building code rules requiring all new homes by 2030 to be heated with electricity or geothermal systems, and set a target for 12 per cent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2025. The changes are welcome news for all those concerned with climate change but homeowners in the province need to be aware of how they could be affected. Here are two of the policies that could have far reaching consequences for anyone looking to buy, sell, or build a new home or condo:

• $3.8-billion for new grants, rebates and other subsidies to retrofit buildings, and move them off natural gas and onto geothermal, solar power or other forms of electric heat. Many of these programs will be administered by a new Green Bank, modelled on a similar agency in New York State, to provide financing for solar and geothermal projects.
• New building code rules that will require all homes and small buildings built in 2030 or later to be heated without using fossil fuels, such as natural gas. This will be expanded to all buildings before 2050. Other building code changes will require major renovations to include energy-efficiency measures. All homes will also have to undergo an energy-efficiency audit before they are sold.

Homeowners should be aware of additional costs and constraints that could affect them should this new plan becomes law. Those looking to sell their homes or condos will need to undergo an energy audit which could be costly. Those costs could be compounded by any remedial work that may need to be undertaken to bring the home’s energy efficiency up to a certain standard. Those standards have not yet been clearly indicated nor how they would be enforced. The cost of new homes will likely go up as well in the short term to account for the additional expense of solar panels or geothermal power. Those building their own homes would likely also be impacted by the additional technical requirements as they may relate to mechanical and electrical systems as well as the construction and insulation of their homes. The $3.8-billion of new grants, rebates and other subsidies to retrofit buildings will certainly help to alleviate some of these costs.

Notwithstanding the additional costs both direct, such as the increased cost of construction, and indirect, such as the additional tax burden of all the subsidies required to initiate this program, this is a much-needed step to help kick-start the transition to renewable energy sources.

Our Ottawa condos already implement numerous energy efficient building systems. This pending legislation will further fuel our, and no doubt the industries at large, desire to build environmentally friendly buildings.

You can read an entire article on the new plan here in the Globe and Mail.