Learn how to stay warm and save on energy costs. See if you qualify for home-energy improvement grants
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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
A new study of the ancient world of Anatolia, now Turkey, shows how they adapted to climate change but offers a warning for today's climate emergency. The efforts of ancient populations to minimize the impacts of climate change were undermined during longer climate shifts when it is combined with other events such as pandemics, earthquakes and wars.
In truth, if everyone in Canada gave up their car, lowered their thermostat, stopped taking flights and ate more organic lentils, it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to make a difference. No wonder it’s hard to maintain any hope that climate change is solvable. But as Greta Thunberg said back in 2018: “The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. Full Article
Texans crank on the air conditioning this week amid an unusually early heat wave, setting new records for electricity demand in the state, which surpassed 75 gigawatts on Sunday and smashed the 2019 record. CNN reports that Texas grid operator ERCOT projects it could approach that peak again on Tuesday. More
Just Green Cities is a research project addresses a core challenge Canadians face in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing the climate crisis, focusing on municipal infrastructure renewal. The research focused on three key areas: net-zero housing, fleet electrification and stormwater management.
The fourth in the webinar series 'Better Understand your Energy Consumption and What is Driving your Energy Use' presented why submetering tenant spaces is a priority for both tenants and landlords. View Webinar 4 PDF.
The third in the webinar series 'Green Leases: How to Achieve Cost Savings and Sustainability Goals' presented how innovative Green Leases can create win-win agreements for building owners and business tenants to benefit from environmentally friendly upgrades and behaviours. View Webinar 3 PDF. Register for Upcoming Webinars.
On April 28, 2022, Durham Region officially launched the Durham Greener Homes, an initiative inspired by Durham Region's Community Energy Plan to help make energy-efficient, low-carbon homes more accessible to Durham residents. Durham Region partnered with Windfall Centre to deliver the new home energy retrofit program. Read More.
The second in the webinar series "Why Building Tenants Should be Thinking about Climate Risk" informs commercial building tenants (SMEs) on mitigating their cost and supply risks by being more climate knowledgeable .View Webinar 2 PDF. Register for Upcoming Webinars.
The first in the webinar series "A Roadmap to Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction - Benefits for Your Business" delved into the influences and trends impacting businesses. The speakers gave insights into how commercial building tenants can collaborate with landlords to achieve a low carbon workplace, modernize lease arrangements, energy-efficient best practices and other important topics. PDF. Upcoming Webinars
On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua at Council meeting, announced Vaughan's Award won at the ClimateWise 2021 Achievement Award. He said: I am pleased to announce the City of Vaughan has received the Mayor's Energy Challenge Advocate Award from the ClimateWise Business Network for our dedicated support of the Provincial Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking initiative. More
Renewable Energy to the Rescue as Texas Records Incredibly High Heat and Energy Demand
Renewables are slowly but surely gaining ground more recently in Texas as the city depends heavily on wind and solar power to meet the current high energy demand. Texans crank on the air conditioning this week amid an unusually early heat wave, setting new records for electricity demand in the state, which surpassed 75 gigawatts on Sunday and smashed the 2019 record. CNN reports that Texas grid operator ERCOT projects it could approach that peak again on Tuesday.
However, unlike previous extreme weather events in Texas, which led to deadly blackouts, the grid is holding up remarkably well this week. Several experts told CNN that it's owed in large part to solid performances from wind and solar, which generated 27 gigawatts of electricity during Sunday's peak demand -- close to 40% of the total needed.
Texas is, by rhetoric, anti-renewables. But frankly, renewables are bailing us out,
said Michael Webber, an energy expert and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. They're rocking. That really spares us a lot of heartache and a lot of money.
Durham Region Officially Launches Durham Greener Homes, Partners with Windfall Centre
On Thursday, April 28, 2022, Durham Region unveiled the Durham Greener Homes at a launch event at Durham College, Whitby Campus. Durham Greener Homes is a home retrofit service that will empower Durham Region residents to undertake home energy renovations. Durham Region has partnered with Windfall Ecology Centre to deliver the new home energy program to help Durham residents achieve energy-efficient homes as part of the Region's Community Energy Plan- a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Durham Greener Homes Program offers homeowners a home energy retrofit service that offers financing and cash-back rebates for home energy upgrade projects and a home energy coach to give expert advice to residents in the home retrofit journey. The Durham Greener Homes Program will target single-family homes built between 1970 and 2000 (representing 46 percent of single-family homes in the Durham region) because these are understood to have high energy-saving potential.
Windfall Ecology Centre's Founder and Executive Director, Brent Kopperson, who spoke about Durham Greener Homes, said, Windfall Ecology Centre has been helping Durham residents retrofit their homes for over 20 years. We are proud to combine all we have learned in that time to Durham Greener Homes, a best-in-class home retrofit facilitation service designed to ease renovation anxiety and help homeowners get the most from their energy efficiency investments.
At the launch event, a $3.4 million boost was announced to help finance the Durham Greener Homes Project to help more residents achieve energy-efficient homes and create a cleaner, low-carbon environment in Durham Region. The financing is offered through the Green Municipal Fund and delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and funded by the Government of Canada.
Durham Greener Homes will support energy-efficiency upgrades such as high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, thermal envelope upgrades, lighting upgrades and high-efficiency appliances. Additional eligible measures will include heat pump installation, renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, water conservation measures and indoor air quality measures.
Are you a resident of Durham starting your home retrofit journey? Visit durhamgreenerhomes.ca to learn more about the Durham Greener Homes program
More on the launch of Durham Greener Homes on Natural Resources Canada, Yahoo News, insauga.com
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.
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.