Incentives

It is sometimes necessary to invest a little extra when building or renovating a lower-carbon home, though these can be minimized easily with smart design. Most of these up-front investments are quickly defrayed by much lower operating costs during occupancy, but in addition to these benefits down the road, governments are today offering permitting incentives and rebates to encourage and support owners to make choices above and beyond the minimum code requirements. Recently the City of Vancouver approved a set of incentives for zero emissions projects, including floor space exclusions, roof height and setback relaxations, external design regulation flexibility and a sped up permitting process. Other municipalities are following this model.

In addition, the CleanBC Better Homes Program, a partnership between the Province of BC, BC Hydro and Fortis, was established to help owners access rebates. Its website has free tools that allow anyone to input energy-efficiency upgrades they’re considering for new homes or renovations, and to see a long list of available rebates for these actions, including:

  • Insulation (attic, basement crawlspace, exterior wall cavity/sheathing) - Up to $5,500

  • ENERGY STAR® windows/doors - Up to $3,000​

  • Air source heat pump - Up to $9,000

  • Natural gas ENERGY STAR furnace - Up to $700

  • Natural gas ENERGY STAR boiler - $1,000

  • Electric heat pump water heater - $1,000

  • Natural gas water heater - Up to $1,000

  • Natural gas combination heating and hot water system - $1,500

Other financial incentives include:

  • the Near Zero Emissions Building Program is offering incentives up to $22,500 for using a heat pump in a Step Code 4, 5 or Passive House

  • the Vancouver Heritage Foundation has many grants available to contribute to energy upgrades together with heritage conservation and restoration of homes older than 1940

  • refunds on mortgage loan insurance and GST refunds are available for energy efficiency upgrades for renovations and new builds