Exploring the homeowner retrofit journey in B.C. 

OPEN Technologies, in collaboration with Vancity Credit Union, Circular Citizen Consulting, and Majid Khoury, has spent the last nine months conducting market research on the barriers, friction points, and leverage points on the homeowner journey through the carbon retrofit process. 

In our latest post on the OPEN Blog, our Chief Executive Officer, Donovan Woollard, shares the complexities of his own home decarbonization journey, and offers a preview of our upcoming report on the topic! 

To learn more about our research, please join us and Vancity for a summary presentation at Efficiency Canada’s DiscoverEE Series on Friday, May 27th (Register here) and watch this space for our upcoming report!

The City of Vancouver moves on building regulations to reduce emissions

On May 17th, the Vancouver City Council has given their approval to a sweep of regulatory changes for the City’s built environment, which includes energy and carbon reporting, as well as annual carbon pollution limits for existing commercial and multifamily buildings. Check out this great summary from James Glave for more, or view the full reports. 

For building owners looking to prepare for these upcoming changes, Building Benchmark BC is a great place to get started! Visit our buildingbenchmarkbc.ca for more details, and check out our Year 2 report! 

Progress update for the Affordable Housing Navigator

Our work on the Affordable Housing Navigator continues, and we are pleased to have end-to-end design and technology consulting firm, OXD, joining us to provide user experience (UX) and project management support through the next stage of research and development. 

In the coming weeks, we will be expanding our user and market research, and we are looking to connect with organizations working in the non-profit housing sector. 

Meet OPEN's Sustainability Scholar! 

This month, we are thrilled to have Teresa Amiama, P.Eng., joining our team through the UBC Sustainability Hub’s Sustainability Scholars program! Teresa is a Master of Engineering Leadership candidate, and has a background in environmental and civil engineering. She will be researching climate risk elements at the building level, and how they may incorporate into the functionality of GRID. 

New and Notable

A few news stories, reports, opportunities, and other resources that recently caught our eye:

• Next up in ZebX’s Decarb Lunch series - Overheating: Will the need for cooling accelerate decarbonization? Register here. 

• The BC Sustainable Energy Association is hosting a networking event for women in sustainable energy on June 8th! Check out the event details for tickets, and for more information. 

• Efficiency Canada’s has released a blog with some ideas for a Federal Green Building Strategy in Canada

• Check it out, Vancouver could soon be home to the worlds largest passive house building! See the full article here.