Energy efficiency isn’t just a technical upgrade, it’s a strategic investment in long-term affordability, resident well-being and climate resilience. For affordable housing providers, integrating energy-efficient measures into new builds or retrofit projects can raise questions about upfront costs and planning complexity. But the benefits are clear: lower operating costs, healthier indoor environments and improved comfort for residents.

If you represent a not-for-profit organization, housing co-operative or municipal authority engaged in affordable housing, this factsheet can help you build a compelling case for energy efficiency that resonates with your board and funders. By highlighting the financial, social and environmental returns early in the planning phase, you can strengthen support for including energy efficiency measures in your capital projects and ensure your housing investments deliver lasting value.

Review the information below to learn how to make the case to your board and funders and explore next steps for integrating energy efficiency into your buildings.
 

Be informed

 Efficient buildings lower operating costs

• Make it clear that a more efficient building will have lower ongoing operating costs for heating fuel and electricity.
   
• Implementing energy conservation measures (ECM) that reduce electricity and fuel usage will save you money on your energy bills. ECMs such as tuning up old equipment, purchasing higher-quality equipment and lowering equipment usage will help lower maintenance costs.
   
  • Explore GMF's Understanding energy efficiency guide for a comprehensive look into energy conservation measures to boost energy efficiency.
     
• Lower energy consumption also makes your ongoing expenses more predictable, as you will be less affected by energy cost increases and sudden price shocks. This stabilizes your budget and the rent you charge to residents. As prices increase, a more efficient building will be more competitive in the market. Run your business case by inputting several different values for annual fuel escalation costs to evaluate this risk.
   
• Explore real-world examples:

Case study: Pine Tree Park

The Pine Tree Park retrofit in Cape Breton, NS, demonstrates how deep energy upgrades and solar installations can significantly reduce operating costs. After replacing oil furnaces with high-efficiency heat pumps and installing a 700kW solar array, residents saw their monthly utility bills drop by approximately $200, translating to an annual savings of about $2,500 per household.

Case study: Heartland Housing Foundation

The Heartland Housing Foundation’s new net-zero affordable housing complex in Fort Saskatchewan, AB, showcases how smart design can drastically reduce operating costs. This 83-unit new build uses solar panels, electric HVAC systems, and a high-performance building envelope so that the housing units achieve net-zero energy by generating as much energy as they consume.

Case study: Sundance Housing Co-operative

The Sundance Housing Co-operative in Edmonton, AB, completed Canada’s largest panelized deep energy retrofit to eliminate natural gas use in its 59-unit townhouse complex. By installing prefabricated wall panels, upgrading insulation, replacing windows and doors, and adding electric heat pumps and rooftop solar panels, the co-op reduced energy consumption by up to 84 percent. Thanks to the reduction in externally supplied energy the co-op hopes to save members up to $100,000 cumulatively each year. Residents now enjoy quieter, more comfortable homes while preventing 330 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

To explore projects in your region, consult GMF's project database.  

• For more specific numbers, have an energy modeler and cost consultant on your design team run an analysis that’s specific to your building, location, and construction/utility costs. If there are other efficient or net-zero buildings in your area, you can talk to their operators to see how their costs have compared to a more conventional building.

Efficient buildings cut emissions and risk

• The building and equipment choices you make today can either lock in future risk or build long-term resilience and affordability.
   
• Buildings that rely on fossil fuels are more likely to face rising costs and uncertainty in the future due to evolving regulations and market pressure. By improving energy efficiency and/or switching to technologies like heat pumps, housing providers can reduce these risks and make their buildings more stable and affordable over time.
   
• Emitting greenhouse gases is likely to become less politically and publicly acceptable over time as the effects of climate change become more severe. Building efficiently now is cheaper than retrofitting later.

Higher building performance unlocks funding opportunities

• Improved energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions is a condition of obtaining approval for some funding or loan programs. In some cases, exceeding the minimum requirements makes it more likely that your project will be approved quickly.
   
• Learn about additional funding sources to support your affordable housing project through GMF's funders list for sustainable affordable housing.

Use energy efficiency to engage and empower residents

• By minimizing the energy use under your control as a building operator (e.g. heating, cooling, ventilation, common area lighting) you set a good example for your residents. This can encourage them to minimize the energy use within their control (e.g. lighting, plug-in appliances, hot water).
   
• If you have a building energy monitoring system (BEMS) you can even install a display in the lobby that encourages efficient behaviours by showing current and historical energy use. If you don’t have a BEMS, consider including it in your design.
   
• Learn more about how a building energy monitoring system can lower costs and emissions through this GMF factsheet: Get started on energy monitoring.

Design choices build community trust

• Improving energy efficiency shows you care about your surroundings and may make your project more acceptable to neighbours, reducing public opposition and making project approval from local authorities more likely.
   
• Energy-efficient new builds and deeply retrofitted homes help communities create dignified, comfortable living spaces that residents feel proud to call their own.
   
  • In addition to the benefits of energy savings, these design choices foster a sense of belonging and pride among residents, as one resident shared as part of GMF’s resident stories article series: “This place is my favourite out of everywhere I’ve lived. It’s safe, it’s beautiful, and it feels like home.” (Rossland Yards: Building stability and a sense of home) 

Efficient buildings support climate resilience and occupants’ well-being

• More efficient buildings also have features that can improve occupants’ well-being, such as better thermal comfort, indoor air quality and access to natural lighting.
   
• Efficient buildings tend to be more resilient to extreme weather events and other effects of climate change. For example, a well-insulated building will keep occupants warm in a winter power outage for much longer. A building with good passive solar shading will keep its occupants’ cooler in case of a summer outage.

Local sourcing strengthens regional economies

• Local sourcing helps regional economies by keeping money within the community, supporting local fuel harvesting and processing jobs and reducing dependence on imported conventional fuels, when these resources are used sustainably and are locally available.

Make your case

Next steps

A growing number of municipalities have been building climate adaptation strategies into municipal plans—but turning those plans into tangible infrastructure projects can be challenging.

Watch this webinar recording to explore tools and insights that can help your municipality move from planning to implementation. You’ll hear from staff working with or for municipalities across Canada on how they’ve approached project prioritization and turned plans into action. Whether you’re part of a small, medium or large community, you’ll come away with strategies to identify and prioritize infrastructure projects that strengthen local climate resilience.

Featured tools and resources:

• Adaptation Actions to Implement Climate Resilience: A GMF resource to help municipalities identify actions to take to address climate risks in your community.
• Climate Insight: A free online platform for Canadian communities to find relevant, actionable data and information on building low-carbon, resilient housing and infrastructure.
• Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit: Designed to help municipal practitioners prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing, it contains tools to identify and prioritize infrastructure projects and case studies of projects that can be done with innovative financing.

This session was designed for municipal staff and elected officials who have completed their climate adaptation planning and are ready to take the next step towards implementation.

Speakers:

• Ewa Jackson, Managing Director, ICLEI Canada
• Shawn Dias, Deputy City Manager, City of Morden, MB
• Derry Wallis, Climate Change and Energy Specialist, County of Huron, ON
• Rachel Mitchell, Director of Community Climate Initiatives, Clean Foundation 

The webinar was delivered in English with French simultaneous interpretation (SI).  

FCM’s Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative is delivered through our Green Municipal Fund and funded by the Government of Canada. 

Whether your municipality is starting to develop an urban forestry plan or looking to strengthen existing projects, this Biodiversity strategies for resilient urban forests webinar will help you integrate biodiversity-focused practices into your work that improve the resilience of your urban forests and enhance the well-being of your community.    

Watching this webinar will help you:  

• Discover the benefits of planting diverse native species for urban forest health and climate resilience.  
• Understand the connections between urban forestry plans and projects and broader biodiversity and ecosystem health goals.  
• Explore real examples of restoration-focused tree planting projects.  
• Learn how to integrate these principles and practices in your urban forestry plans and projects.    

Speakers:  

• Kate Landry, Senior Manager, Community Action, WWF-Canada  
• Keanen Jewett, Aboriculture Foreman, City of Fredericton  
• Sharon MacGougan, President, Garden City Conservation Society

This webinar is well suited for Canadian communities of all sizes, including:

• Municipal staff working in urban forestry, climate adaptation, environment, urban planning, community development, or parks and recreation.
• Staff from small and mid-sized municipalities, or those without dedicated urban forestry or environment teams.
• Municipal partners such as local organizations, NGOs, and community groups involved in tree planting or ecological restoration.
• Elected officials and municipal decision-makers interested in enhancing community resilience and biodiversity.
• Environmental consultants and practitioners supporting municipalities in developing or implementing urban forestry plans and projects. 

Watch the webinar

This webinar was offered jointly with WWF Canada through the Growing Canada's Community Canopies (GCCC) initiative. GCCC learning opportunities are delivered in partnership through FCM's Green Municipal Fund by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Tree Canada and funded by the Government of Canada.   

Does your community want to ensure that its trees thrive over the long term? This factsheet explains why tree monitoring is an essential part of your planting project, and how to set up an effective monitoring program. Learn about the expertise, tools and technology that you’ll need to collect accurate data to inform tree maintenance. 

  Why monitoring trees matters for project success

Planting trees provides many benefits to communities, from cooling neighbourhood streets to restoring habitat and enhancing biodiversity. However, planting trees alone is not enough to ensure these benefits. Trees planted in urban areas face many challenges to their long-term health and survival, including drought, vandalism, pests and disease. While the first few years after planting are often the most critical, consistent monitoring even after trees are established is essential.

To ensure that your tree planting project is successful and to protect your investment of time and resources, it’s important to monitor both the trees and the areas where they have been planted. A structured monitoring program informs tree maintenance practices, ensuring that your community’s trees receive the care they need to thrive over time.

How monitoring guides tree maintenance

Effective monitoring helps detect signs of stress, such as premature leaf drop, yellowing leaves (called chlorosis) or damage to leaves and stems. These symptoms can be caused by different factors, including pests, disease, drought and nutrient deficiencies in soil.  

Monitoring also helps spot structural problems that can make a tree unstable or cause it to fail as it matures if they are not addressed. These issues include leaning trunks, uneven growth, weak branch attachments or girdling roots (roots that wrap around the trunk).  

Identifying stress or structural problems early can help you adjust your maintenance strategies and plan targeted interventions. Actions like corrective pruning, watering, soil amendments, staking adjustments or root collar excavations can improve tree health and reduce the risk of long-term issues. For example, if a young tree is leaning, staking can be introduced or adjusted during routine maintenance to help straighten it.

In cases where trees do not survive, monitoring gives you a consistent record of tree health, structural conditions and maintenance activities. This information can provide valuable insights into what went wrong, helping you adapt future planting strategies to improve survival rates and maximize the impact of your tree planting projects. 

How to set up a monitoring program

 Assign responsibility for monitoring

Tree monitoring responsibilities should be clearly assigned during the planning phase of a project and matched with the skillsets of those tasked with monitoring activities. Technical professionals like foresters, ecologists and arborists are best suited for more specialized tasks, like measuring multiple growth and health indicators, assessing tree structure and risk, and deciding what interventions are needed when issues are identified. If your municipality does not have this expertise in-house, consider seeking consultant services or partnering with a local university or research team.

Community groups and individuals can also play an important role in monitoring if they are given adequate training. Community members are often invested in the success of tree planting projects. They are closest to the site and can observe problems the earliest. With simple training and tools like mobile tree inventory apps, calipers, long measuring tape, and diameter at breast height (DBH) tape, they can track survival rates, detect early signs of stress, measure tree growth, and report issues like pest outbreaks, vandalism or animal damage.

Combining professional expertise with community engagement and accessible tools makes tree monitoring more sustainable and effective. 

Case study: Forest Health Ambassador Program 

Since 2014, the Town of Oakville, Ontario, has partnered with private consulting firm Bioforest to train local volunteers to identify signs and symptoms of invasive pests through the Forest Health Ambassador Program. Volunteers receive targeted training to monitor trees for infestations of emerald ash borer, spongy moth and Asian long-horned beetle, species that pose serious threats to urban forests with significant budgetary and management implications.

This low-cost program leverages community interest in urban forest stewardship, significantly expanding the town's monitoring capacity beyond what the municipal budget would typically allow. It serves as a strong example of how community members can be meaningfully engaged in long-term urban forest health monitoring to support early pest detection and timely intervention.

Create monitoring schedules  

Establishing an appropriate schedule is key to effective monitoring. The frequency of monitoring should balance your project’s goals, resources and the life stage(s) of the trees.  

• Early monitoring: Trees are most vulnerable in the first three to five years after planting, so more frequent monitoring of young trees is recommended. This might include checks every one to two months after planting to quickly identify and address issues.

  If the same individuals or teams are responsible for both early maintenance tasks (like watering, mulching, pruning or weeding) and monitoring, it can be efficient to carry out these activities concurrently where monitoring dates line up.

• Ongoing monitoring: After the initial establishment phase, monitoring can take place less often. Annual visits are often enough to track the long-term growth, health and structure of planted trees, although this can be done less often if trees are tracked in a regularly updated inventory (e.g., every five to ten years). For trees on public lands, consider setting up online reporting portals or phone lines for residents to report concerns. If you are setting up a community-based monitoring program, residents can also upload the data they collect about the trees.
• Environmental monitoring: Apart from the trees themselves, it is important to monitor site conditions and check for invasive species at least once per year, ideally during the growing season or after significant weather events.
• Adaptive scheduling: Monitoring plans should remain flexible. If unexpected problems arise, such as widespread mortality or the discovery of a particular pest or disease, you may need to monitor planting sites more frequently.

Your monitoring schedule should consider resource availability, including personnel, equipment and funding. More frequent monitoring can provide richer data but it requires greater investment. A well-planned monitoring schedule supports timely interventions and provides the data needed to evaluate project success and inform future plantings.

Decide how monitoring data will be recorded

Tree monitoring data can be recorded using either online forms and digital tools, such as mobile apps, or paper-based methods like printed forms and manual data entry.

Recording data digitally offers several advantages, particularly for capturing accurate location data when GPS or satellite mapping is available. Digital tools also streamline data storage, analysis and sharing. However, they require access to smartphones or tablets, which may be cost-prohibitive or impractical in some contexts.  

Paper forms are a reliable alternative to digitally recording data. After data is collected on paper forms, it can later be entered into a digital spreadsheet or database to allow for easier analysis and long-term storage.  

The method you choose should balance cost, available equipment, user familiarity and the scale of the inventory. Selecting a method that fits your team’s capacity and project scale will help ensure that monitoring is consistent, accurate and sustainable.  

Technologies and tools used for data collection and analysis may include satellite imagery, aerial imagery and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), which provide visual representations of the planting sites. Geographic information system (GIS) software can then be used to capture, store, manage and analyze the resulting data.  

For more information on using tools to collect and analyze data, review our factsheet on urban forestry technology and tools. 

Create your monitoring baseline

Collecting baseline information about your newly planted trees is a critical step in managing them over the long term. Ideally, this information should be integrated into a comprehensive inventory of your municipality’s trees (or form the start of an inventory). An inventory provides a centralized record of what was planted where and how well each tree is growing over time. This supports consistent monitoring, maintenance and planning.

At a minimum, a best practice is to record the following information for each tree:

• location (GPS coordinates or map reference)

• planting site type (e.g., street, park or private)

• species and cultivar (or genus, if more feasible)

• health status

• land use type (e.g., urban, forest, open space, industrial)

• diameter at breast height (or at one foot, depending on tree size)

• date of recording

• a unique tree identifier 

This baseline data forms the foundation for all future monitoring. Over time, you can add and update information, such as the following:

• health status observations

• structural observations

• growth

• maintenance actions (watering, pruning, staking, etc.)

• survival/mortality status

Tracking this information over time allows you to identify trends, evaluate planting success and quickly detect areas or species that may require more attention. 

Recording every individual tree may be impractical for large-scale restoration projects that involve mass plantings. In these cases, you can use sample plots to inventory and monitor select trees on your site, then extrapolate that data to the entire site. This will generate a representative picture of the planting’s performance while still collecting detailed inventory data for selected sample trees. You can also track site-level characteristics (e.g., soil quality, ground cover and canopy cover) and metrics related to the goals of the restoration project (e.g., land area restored, carbon sequestered, presence of wildlife, etc.). Although these indicators go beyond tree monitoring, they are essential for assessing the overall success and ecological impact of restoration efforts.

Quality control in tree monitoring

To maintain accurate and consistent data over time, make sure to build quality control into your monitoring plan. This includes deciding when data will be reviewed and who is responsible for verifying measurements.
A common method is to randomly select five to ten percent of trees for remeasurement by a trained supervisor or second observer. This helps identify inconsistencies and improves data reliability for both professional and volunteer observations. Any issues can be addressed through refresher training or protocol updates.
When inventories are conducted by trained tree care professionals, identifying trees to the species or cultivar level is ideal. However, when community groups are leading the inventory, it may be more practical to identify trees to the genus level to maintain accuracy.

Photographs are another valuable quality control tool. Taking clear, consistent photos of individual trees allows teams to verify observations and validate assessments remotely.

Monitor for tree health, structure, mortality and site conditions

Once baseline inventory data has been collected, regular monitoring can begin. Tree monitoring should evolve over time, reflecting a tree’s development stage, the surrounding site conditions and the goals of your project. Health, structure, mortality and environmental factors are core indicators to monitor throughout a tree’s life, but the methods used, frequency of monitoring and level of detail will depend on tree age and project type.

All maintenance activities completed should also be documented, ideally in your tree inventory. This record-keeping supports ongoing monitoring, clarifies a tree’s maintenance history and informs future asset management planning.

Monitoring newly planted trees

Tree health

Early tree health monitoring (up to three years after planting) will focus on survival and establishment. Monitoring indicators that reflect how well a tree is adapting to its new environment is key. This may include monitoring overall vigour, chlorosis, leaf or needle loss, shoot growth, and signs of disease or animal damage. These indicators can reveal issues such as water stress, nutrient deficiencies or pests, which can be addressed by more frequent watering and other maintenance activities. 

Tree structure

Monitoring structural development is also key during the establishment phase, as early intervention can prevent costly or hazardous issues later in a tree’s life. Structural indicators to look for include trunk lean, co-dominant stems, poor branch attachment, mechanical damage from stakes or animals, and root girdling. Addressing these early through pruning, staking adjustments or installing protective fencing can set trees on a path to long-term stability and health.

Tree mortality

Tracking mortality is especially important during the establishment period to evaluate project success or progress toward survivorship goals, such as achieving 80 percent survival three years after planting. Regularly recording which trees have survived provides valuable insight into planting methods, species performance and potential site challenges. When mortality is high, monitoring data can help identify the causes, such as drought, pests, vandalism or improper planting techniques. Doing so will inform both corrective maintenance actions and long-term planning.

Site conditions

In urban or high-traffic areas, environmental stressors like soil compaction, drought, vandalism and invasive vegetation can significantly affect trees. These observations can help explain poor health or high mortality and then guide targeted interventions. If the cause of stress is not obvious, it may be due to soil pollution (e.g., salt contamination) or nutrient levels. If this is suspected, it can be useful to conduct laboratory testing to determine the cause of the problem.

For restoration or afforestation projects, soil testing and monitoring for invasive vegetation is especially important as goals often include improving degraded soils, managing erosion and re-establishing native plant communities.

Monitoring established trees

After three to five years, trees are typically considered to be established. While they require less frequent care than young trees, regular monitoring—perhaps integrated into a larger municipal or site inventory—is recommended for long-term health and safety. At this stage, the focus shifts from monitoring survival to looking at growth, signs of chronic stress, structural issues and the presence of pests or disease. 

Next steps

Here are some additional resources that can help you develop a monitoring program for your tree planting projects:

This resource was created in partnership by Tree Canada and FCM’s Green Municipal Fund for the Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative, which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada.  

A healthy and resilient urban forest depends on a strong urban forest management plan (UFMP). A UFMP helps municipalities grow resilient and more connected. It serves as a roadmap to ensure the urban forest provides maximum social, environmental and economic benefits to the entire community.  

Our Creating an urban forest management plan for your community guide will help you develop and implement a plan that promotes long-term sustainability and wellbeing for your community. This guide is designed for municipal staff working to create a long-term plan or strategy focused on managing, enhancing and sustaining urban forests.  

This comprehensive guide will help you: 

• Identify who should be involved in the creation and implementation of your plan.    
• Explain the importance of proactive research and planning in urban forestry.
• Compile and assess key data and information that drive your urban forest priorities.  
• Engage your community and develop a shared vision for your municipality’s urban forest.  
• Set goals, targets and actions for urban forest management.  
• Determine how you will implement your plan.

Each of these topics are explained in depth, covering the multiple considerations and details required for a strong urban forest management plan.

Download the guide 

These resources were created in partnership by Tree Canada and FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) for the Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative, which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada.

Is your municipality looking for ways to turn organic waste into opportunity? Anaerobic digestion offers a practical, cost-effective way to manage source-separated organics. It diverts waste from landfills, generates renewable energy from biogas and recycles nutrients back into the soil through digestate. This technology complements composting and recycling, giving municipalities concrete tools to achieve waste management and circular economy goals.

Watch our webinar recording on Advancing climate goals with organic waste-to-energy for a practical exploration of how municipalities can use anaerobic digestion, biogas and digestate to turn organic waste into local value. The session equips participants and project partners with foundational knowledge, real-world insights and success stories to support informed decisions about local organic waste-to-energy opportunities. Whether your municipality is just starting to explore options or ready to evaluate next steps, this recording helps you move concepts toward implementation.

Watch the webinar recording to learn how to:

• Combine anaerobic digestion and composting systems to divert municipal waste from landfills.
• Turn biogas into local renewable energy and put digestate to work enriching soil.
• Apply best practices from real municipal case studies.
• Navigate key funding, permitting and governance considerations.
• Identify organic waste-to-energy opportunities that fit your municipality’s context and goals.

Panelists:

• Trisha Aldovino, Process Analyst, Azura Associates
• David Ellis, President, Azura Associates

This webinar was delivered in English with simultaneous interpretation in French.

The Green Municipal Fund (GMF), funded by the Government of Canada, helps municipalities turn organic waste into local value by providing funding and practical guidance on anaerobic digestion, biogas and digestate solutions.