Capital project: Retrofit of existing municipal buildings

Improving the energy performance of municipal buildings—from city halls to indoor ice rinks—helps lower operating and maintenance costs, reduces emissions, and frees up budgets for essential services like housing, transit and infrastructure. This funding supports municipalities in achieving sustainability and long-term energy-savings.

Eligible projects may focus on a single municipal building or a portfolio of municipal buildings.

Eligible municipal buildings, such as municipally-owned community buildings, may include but are not limited to:

• city halls, town halls  
• administrative buildings, police stations    
• indoor ice rinks, indoor sports arenas, indoor swimming pools    
• public libraries    
• community and recreational centres (e.g., community centres, clubhouses, recreation centres, gyms, halls and curling rinks)    
• arts and culture facilities (e.g., cultural facilities, performing arts facilities, art galleries and auditoriums)    
• multi-purpose buildings, which include one or more of the above community functions, as well as other services/administrative functions
• Note: Fire halls, paramedic centres, ambulance stations, and public works buildings are eligible for retrofits as stand-alone buildings. For new construction projects, they must be part of a multi-purpose building that includes at least one eligible building type listed above.

What we fund

We offer combined loan and grant funding to support municipalities in implementing one or more phases in a sequence of retrofit measures (pathway) to reduce emissions from your municipal building by at least 50 percent within 10 years and achieve best practice energy targets within 20 years.

Applications must demonstrate a pathway that reduces the most amount of GHGs possible in the near term (i.e., in the next 10 years), through the pursuit of a deep energy retrofits and fuel-switch. Read our Green Buildings Pathway Guidance Document for more information.

Eligible retrofits and renewable energy upgrades may include, but are not limited to:  

• heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
• insulation
• windows and doors
• hot water heaters
• LED lighting and lighting controls
• solar panels
• geothermal heat pumps

You are strongly encouraged to consider a portfolio of municipal buildings and consider parallel interventions in those buildings.

An application is also recommended to follow all elements identified in the Green Buildings Pathway Guidance Document. 

What your project needs to achieve

All projects that meet the criteria on this page are eligible. Please note that we consider several factors in making a funding decision. We strive to fund the most innovative and impactful initiatives, so not all eligible projects will be approved for funding.

Retrofits are eligible:

• If they consist of one or more phases of a GMF-funded retrofit pathway feasibility study that follows our Green Buildings Pathway Guidance Document,
• if they meet the best practice energy targets defined in this offer respective of climate zone,
• or if they consist of one or more phases supported by equivalent feasibility work.

Further information regarding the offer can be found in the Sustainable Municipal Buildings application guide.

New information below. Please review before starting a funding application. 

Best practice energy targets: Mandatory requirements

For the retrofit of municipal buildings, applicants should strive to meet best practice energy targets over a 20-year timeline, through a series of retrofit pathway steps or phases. A capital project retrofit is eligible if it includes one or more steps or phases from a feasibility study that follows our Green Buildings Pathway Guidance Document. These proposed targets are based on:  

• Energy Use Intensity (EUI): Performance requirement for building energy consumed per year, per unit floor area. Normally measured in kWh/m2/y.

Targets are to be established based on climate zone and building typology.

 

Typology 1: Office and office-like buildings including libraries and town halls 

Energy Use Intensity (EUI) targets 

EUI targets are established for office and office-like building types by climate zone as shown in the table below. 

Climate zone	EUI target (kWh/m2/y)
4	95
5	95
6	95
7 & 8	.0074 x HDD18 + 74

Table 1: EUI targets for office and office-like buildings by climate zone.

Contact us if you need assistance determining your climate zone.

Important: See list of additional mandatory requirements for all building typologies listed below.

 

Typology 2: Non-office buildings such as indoor ice rinks, pools, fitness centres, indoor soccer fields and public works buildings 

• Your reference (baseline) and proposed energy models must be modeled in accordance with National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) 2020.
• Your proposed NECB 2020 model must result in at least 25% less energy use than your NECB 2020 baseline energy model.

Important: See list of additional mandatory requirements for all building typologies listed below.

 

Typology 3: A mix of typologies 1 and 2 

• If 75% or more of your building’s floor area is typology 1, treat the entire building as typology 1, not typology 3.
• If 75% or more of your building’s floor area is typology 2, treat the entire building as typology 2, not typology 3.
• If your building contains a mix of typologies 1 and 2, where neither exceeds 75% floor area, a weighted-average EUI must be calculated. Consult our EUI guidance document for more information or contact us. 

Important: See list of additional mandatory requirements for all building typologies listed below. 

 

Additional mandatory requirements: 

1. Renewable energy, such as from solar panels, does not count towards the energy targets. When calculating EUI, do not deduct renewable energy production from the building’s energy use.
2. Thermal bridging must be taken into account in the EUI targets.
3. If your building contains a parkade, the parkade energy use must be included in the EUI targets, however the parkade floor area must be excluded from the EUI calculations.
4. The reference (baseline) and proposed energy models must be modeled in accordance with NECB 2020. Other versions of NECB (such as NECB 2015, NECB 2017) are not acceptable.
5. For all building types in climate zones 4 and 5, a complete fossil fuel phase-out is required. Backup fossil fuel use is not permitted.
6. For all building types in climate zones 6 and above, a complete fossil fuel phase-out is required when outdoor temperatures are -15 C and above; fossil fuel space heating is allowed only when outdoor temperatures are below -15 C.

Retrofit pathways

Your capital project should see you implement one or more phases of your selected retrofit pathway. Eligible projects may focus on single building or a portfolio of municipal buildings.

What is a retrofit pathway?

A sequence of measures that allow municipal buildings to achieve significant energy and GHG emissions reduction in phases over time.

Example of a retrofit pathway that strategizes the replacement of equipment when it reaches the end of its useful life:
Phase 1 – Introductory energy conservation   Timeline: 0-10 years  Passive strategies, minor envelope improvements and energy demand conservation measures.
Phase 2 - Partial fuel-switch to achieve 50% reduction in GHGs from baseline Timeline: No longer than 10 years   Capital equipment replacement and fuel-switching while maintaining backup fossil fuel systems. Possible addition of renewable energy.
Phase 3 - Deep energy retrofit and full fuel-switch   Timeline: 10-20 years Complete conversion to non-fossil fuel energy sources and alignment with EUI targets.

For additional information read our Green Buildings Pathway Guidance Document.

Equity considerations

GMF recognizes that many urgent social issues are interrelated, and that climate action and sustainability initiatives need to be designed to ensure fair distribution of benefits and burdens, across all segments of a community and across generations. Projects will be assessed on their potential to result in improved socio-economic outcomes and a more equitable distribution of benefits and burdens among the community, for present and future generations. While projects can be eligible without incorporating these considerations, preference is given to projects that:

• Integrate principles of anti-racism, equity, inclusion and Reconciliation.
• Apply inclusive community engagement practices.
• Implement social procurement.
• Generate significant socio-economic benefits, such as increased accessibility, improved outdoor spaces and inclusive employment and apprenticeship.

As you develop your project approach, consider the following questions:

1. How can you design an engagement approach that would enable you to consider the diverse needs, experiences and voices of all stakeholders and rights holders in this project?
2. Which equity-deserving groups might benefit the most, and/or be burdened, directly or indirectly, by this project? How are these groups positively or negatively impacted?
3. Are there opportunities to address or mitigate negative impacts?
4. Are there opportunities to rectify existing or potential biases, discrimination or exclusionary practices in your project planning, design, funding and implementation?
5. How can you maximize the socio-economic benefits that your project generates?
6. How can you leverage your procurement practices to generate more positive social, economic and environmental outcomes within your community and region?

Multi-solving

GMF seeks to fund the very best examples of municipal initiatives that achieve a multitude of benefits for the environment, communities and local economies. Higher application evaluation scores are given to projects that demonstrate excellence in one or more of the following areas:

• potable water conservation
• sustainable materials management
• biodiversity
• socio-economic benefits
• meaningful engagement and collaboration with rights holders and stakeholders