Decarbonization Strategies for BC’s Single-Family Homes (W23)

ConEd Credits: AIBC 1 Core; BC Housing 1 CPD (Construction technology)

Location: Level 200 (Room 206)

• Engineering
• Property Management
• Homebuilding & Renovation
• Optimizing Building Performance & Net Asset Value | Retrofits, Repurposing & Existing Assets

Theme: Decarbonization & Electrification

The single most impactful thing that British Columbians can do to achieve the 2030 (and beyond) carbon emissions targets for buildings is to decarbonize our existing homes. According to recently published research by OPEN Technologies, we can get a long way toward this objective simply by replacing old furnaces and boilers with electric heat pumps: two thirds of the equipment in BC homes will be aging into retirement by 2030 anyway, giving us a once-in-a-generation opportunity for transition, or a missed opportunity that could lock in new fossil fuel systems for decades. While the solution is easily defined, achieving it is much harder. Today’s heat pump sector struggles just to meet today’s demand, let alone the 10x increase that the opportunity requires. This calls for a radical transformation to how heat pumps are promoted, specced, and sold.

Considering both the homeowner demand and the installer capacity side of the discussion, attendees will learn from the speakers’ recent research and lived experience on:

• Homeowner demand drivers and friction points
• Industry opportunities and barriers to growth at a business and sector level and considering both urban and rural, Indigenous and Northern perspectives
• Regulatory and programmatic changes to stimulate demand and support industry success
• The role of intermediaries (financial and community) in supporting this transition, with specific reference to OPEN’s software enabled service offering

Speakers

Mariko Michasiw - B2E Program Manager, Zero Emissions Building Exchange

Mariko Michasiw has over a decade of experience reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy-efficiency in buildings. As a Certified Energy Manager, she has planned and managed capital projects and developed a keen understanding of the real-life challenges and opportunities related to building electrification in the commercial and residential sectors. Mariko manages Canada’s first building electrification coalition, B2E, a program area of the Zero Emissions Building Exchange (ZEBx). This multi-stakeholder initiative was launched in September 2021 and represents a broad cross-section of stakeholder groups who have provincial and national influence.

Donovan Woollard - CEO, OPEN Technologies

Donovan Woollard is the CEO of OPEN Technologies. He has over 20 years of experience in designing, launching, leading, and advising environmental businesses in sectors such as carbon markets, green building, vertical agriculture, and social finance. He has long worked at the intersection of voluntary action and regulatory innovation around climate change. A throughline of Donovan’s career is designing businesses and tools to address social and environmental outcomes in a market context. In addition to OPEN, this includes his role as the founding COO of Offsetters (now Ostrom Climate), Canada’s largest carbon offset and management company and as a founding investor and board member of Canada’s first B-Corp certified brewery. Immediately before OPEN, Donovan spent five years as Co-Director of RADIUS, a venture incubator at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. He continues to mentor impact entrepreneurs around the world and sits on a range of corporate and non-profit boards.

Event details credit of the event website.