Whole-building retrofits could become a more common practice in Alberta with the implementation of supportive government practices and aid from the financial and insurance sectors, according to a report from the Pembina Institute.

The Calgary-based think tank's report, Surfacing success: Learning from whole-building retrofit projects in Alberta, draws on four cases it calls "champions" in the province.

“We wanted to help find cases across multiple building types of successful retrofit projects happening in Alberta,” Raidin Blue, a senior analyst in Pembina’s buildings program, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

“And this is all towards helping set a shared high bar of what’s possible, what makes a good business case.”

A whole-building retrofit, different from a typical retrofit in that it addresses multiple systems at once, can lower climate-related risks, improve insurability, increase asset value, strengthen tenant retention and cut maintenance costs, Blue said.

The lessons learned from Alberta can apply to other provinces, he noted. 

Pembina’s case examples

Pembina examined four buildings:

• Tennyson Apartments in Edmonton, a four-storey, 163-unit apartment complex;
• Hi-Tech Seals’ manufacturing warehouse in Edmonton;
• the eight-storey, 312,000-square-foot Glenbow Museum in downtown Calgary; and
• the Sundance Housing Cooperative, an Edmonton complex of 15 buildings, including 59 townhomes, 10 duplexes and nine senior suite apartments.

Each case told a different tale of how a whole-building retrofit could be done, Blue said.

The upgrades for Tennyson included the addition of variable speed pumps to the heating boilers, an upgrade to the roof insulation and solar energy systems. Compare that to the work on the co-operative, which consisted of a panelized prefabricated exterior, recladding of the units and new HVAC systems.

The four keys to a retrofit

The retrofits had four things in common: a strong business case, financing, leadership and opportune timing.

Retrofits often wrestle with a high upfront cost or a long payback period. But the building owners cited in the report used some creative solutions to bypass the problem. Hi-Tech Seals was able to write off its geothermal system using an accounting rule that allowed for accelerated capital cost allowance rates for clean energy generation and energy conservation equipment.

Blue was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm the building owners showed for the whole-building retrofits. After spending years arguing for the economic value of retrofits, “I was quite pleased to hear from our interviewees at how it was a good business decision for them,” he said.

The retrofits were also made “when the moment for building changes comes,” Pembina said. Glenbow initiated the retrofit as Calgary’s government expected improved performance. Relocating would have meant losing the museum’s high-traffic downtown location.

Supportive leadership was vital to securing the projects. The Sundance Housing Cooperative has a founder who excels in acquiring funding and managing projects, Pembina said. Additionally, the co-operative has a track record in sustainability, such as being a pioneer in bringing prefabricated, Energiesprong-style retrofits to Canada.

How to move from ‘exceptional to expected’

While whole-building retrofits are feasible in Alberta, Pembina noted the province’s retrofit ecosystem “is not yet prepared to move retrofits from exceptional to expected.”

A consistent roadblock is a “misalignment” between the building owners and government programs. There is an absence of provincial and utility support for retrofits, Blue said. Hi-Tech, for example, dealt with program funding caps, a hindrance given its retrofit required a $30-million renewable energy installation. More policy leadership in Alberta and utility initiatives are needed to show “it’s a good idea to be investing in retrofitting,” Blue said.

That help extends to the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, he continued, such as rewarding building owners that take up a whole-building retrofit with lower premiums.

Pembina encouraged upskilling in the retrofit sector so there will be enough tradesworkers, architects, engineers and insurers, particularly at a moment when it is feared thousands of construction and trades workers will retire and create a labour gap.

“What we want to really build is a market that’s much more self-sustaining,” Blue said about the retrofit market in Alberta, one that does not need to rely on the timing of government programs.

If Alberta, a province notorious for its extreme weather, is able to lead in retrofits, “I think it can also signal to other provinces, ‘If it’s a good idea to do it there, it’s probably a good idea to do it here,’” Blue said.