In August, BCREA interviewed the Pembina Institute’s director for buildings and urban solutions, Tom-Pierre Frappé-Sénéclauze, to understand their perspective on making homes and buildings in BC low carbon, healthy and resilient.

Tom-Pierre was a coauthor of a July submission sent to the BC Government, “Accelerating BC’s economic recovery through building retrofits.” Closely aligned with BCREA’s recommendations, the Pembina Institute called for:

• boosting CleanBC incentives for deep retrofits in homes and buildings,
• accelerating retrofits and construction of social housing, and
• deepening renovations of public sector buildings.

The Pembina Institute’s recommendations aim to assist the BC Government achieve the province’s climate targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030. The BC Government has an opportunity to work toward these climate goals while also stimulating the economy. According to Pembina, incentives for retrofits are effective tools for economic recovery because they create a high number of jobs per dollar, employ a range of skilled labour and use many local made-in-BC materials.

To achieve its climate targets, Pembina says BC will need more workers in the construction sector. “There are opportunities for laid-off workers to take upgrade courses and move into the sector,” notes Tom-Pierre. For example, more resources are needed for contractors to install heat pumps and insulation.

In July, BCREA and other real estate stakeholders provided the government with similar COVID-19 economic recovery recommendations to help the government achieve their climate goals, including:

• provide incentives for building retrofits,
• encourage energy-efficient materials by expanding the list of eligible energy conservation materials and equipment exempt from PST, and
• support skilled trades training.

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