Learn how to stay warm and save on energy costs. See if you qualify for home-energy improvement grants
The York Region network of businesses and organizations leading the way in taking action on climate change
A friendly York Region competition and opportunity to show-off your building's improved energy efficiency
Windfall's Benchmarking Help Centre provides expert help to building owners with their EWRB reporting
Modern solutions to a rising problem. Learn what you can do to protect your property from flooding
Our latest dashboards provide new insights into 16 years of EnerGuide's home energy evaluation data
Buildings are the top greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters by sector, but also, they provide a greater opportunity for municipalities to reduce their emissions. Benchmarking allows for the identification of opportunities for change to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of municipal services. Read more
Energy-conscious homeowners are constantly looking for cost-effective ways to reduce their energy bills and get the most out of their home retrofit upgrades. If you're one of them, there are several reasons why you should consider a heat pump.
As Canadians continue to be impacted by the devastating effects of climate-related wildfires, floods, and extreme weather events this year, the Government of Canada is accelerating efforts to cut carbon pollution at the pace and scale needed to keep the 1.5°Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement within reach.
Space and water heating in Canada account for most building emissions, both residential and commercial. Electrifying buildings will be essential to meet 2050 net-zero emissions targets. Heat pumps are an integral part of this solution, as they use electricity efficiently to heat and cool buildings while replacing fossil fuels. However, there are certain myths about heat pumps that must be debunked to increase their wide-spread acceptance.
The study, published Monday, September 11 in the journal Joule, examined the efficiency of air-source heat pumps in sub-zero scenarios down to minus 10 degrees Celsius — “mild cold climates” similar to the populated coastal regions of British Columbia. The research was led by Canadian Duncan Gibb, a senior advisor at the Brussels-based Regulatory Assistance Project.
Canadian households could cut their energy bills by $10.4 billion and reduce climate pollution from home heating by 19.6 million tonnes by 2035 by using heat pumps for cooling rather than air conditioners, a new report receives.
The 2023 Aviva How We Live Report reveals that one in five Canadian households are prepared to make major renovations to their homes within the next 5-10 years to mitigate the risk from climate-related weather events.
The Durham Greener Homes Program has received national recognition through a recent video released by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The video highlights the program and its innovative, third-party financing model that makes energy efficient home upgrades more accessible and affordable for homeowners.
The documentary covers questions like what is the Ontario Greenbelt?, why is having protected land important? What is Bill 23? and why is the Greenbelt being developed?
Some young adults are switching career paths to keep up with a changing world. Studying to become a social worker and passionate about working with youth and families, Julie Boyce was focusing on child welfare. Until, she says, she realized how "pressing" the issue of climate change is.
Community builders including Windfall Centre were saluted as “the mortar that tightly binds the bricks of our community” on Monday evening, May 29 at Aurora’s annual Community Recognition Awards.
Durham Region is partnering with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) to launch the Towards Net Zero Renovations Project. The project is seeking 10 to 15 participants in Durham who want to upgrade their home to Net Zero Energy or Net Zero Energy Ready. Net Zero Energy homes are known for their improved comfort, indoor air quality as well as noise reductions and durability, while reducing energy loads/costs and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Participant benefits include:
1. Expert guidance from a CHBA Qualified Net Zero Energy Advisor, who will work with your renovator to optimize your retrofit project for performance and cost. This represents up to a $4,000 value over the course of the project. This is in addition to the Deep Retrofit Rebates available under the Durham Greener Homes Program.
2. Renovators, trades and other key retrofit stakeholders get access to industry leading building science training and both the CHBA Net Zero Builder and Renovator Training courses at no cost ,valued at approximately $2,500.
Learn more and register at chba.ca/nztraining
In Ontario the Canada Greener Homes rebates and the provincial rebates have been combined into the Enbridge Home Efficiency Rebate Plus (HER+)
This means Ontario residents will no longer sign-up for the Canada Greener Homes rebates through the federal government's web-portal, but rather with Enbridge Gas through the NRCan Registered Energy Advisor you choose to do the required EnerGuide Home Energy Evaluation of your home.
This new rebate structure streamlines the process by combining both the federal Greener Homes incentives with the Ontario incentives. Through the combined incentives, you can get up to $10,000 in cash-back rebates, plus an additional rebate of up to $600 for the required EnerGuide Home Energy Evaluations.
Read Press Release.
CAC Webinar: Municipal Building Benchmarking Opportunities
Sep 29, 2023 10:00 AM
Buildings are the top greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters by sector, but also, they provide a greater opportunity for municipalities to reduce their emissions. Benchmarking allows for the identification of opportunities for change to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of municipal services. Additionally, tracking the building's energy saves money.
Broader Public Sector (BPS) buildings in Ontario, which include municipally owned buildings, schools, hospitals and more, are required to report energy use and GHG emissions annually. In this webinar, Windfall centre's Director of Operations, Kyle Mennie will present their BPS Building Comparison Map and share more about the ClimateWise Building Challenge – Targeting to benchmark over 1300 commercial and institutional buildings in York and Durham over the next 3 years.
On September 24 at Sheppard's Bush in Aurora, in celebration of Canada's and Ontario's 150th birthday, Windfall Ecology Centre hosted the Windfall Harvest Festival... A Celebration of Diversity: Food, Land and People. The festival featured First Nations dance and drumming, pioneer life reenactments, celebrity chefs, food sampling, nature walks, kids Nature Play and many more family activities.
Windfall Ecology Centre is located on the traditional territories of the Wendat, Haudeno-saunee, and the Anishinaabe peoples and the treaty land of the Williams Treaties First Nations and other Indigenous peoples whose presence here continues to this day. We thank them for sharing this land with us.
We acknowledge the contributions and historic importance of Indigenous people to this place and our collective commitment to make the promise and the challenge of Truth and Reconciliation real in our community.
As a non-profit organization we are supported by people just like you. If you would like to get involved in working towards sustainable communities and creating new opportunities for our youth... Consider joining us as a volunteer or making a donation to ensure we can continue and expand our programs focused on sustainability and climate change mitigation.
