Maintenance and Repairs

February 10, 2024 Published by Manitoba Chapter - By Alan Forbes

The Green Condo Page

From the CCI Manitoba Winter 2024 Condominium News and Views Magazine

Condo changes are complicated

Whether your renovation project improves the sustainability of your condo operations, reduces waste, increases energy efficiency, reduces water consumption or just beautifies the environment surrounding your property, we’d like to hear from you. Just send us an email with the subject line “CCI Green Condo Page” to cci.mb.news@gmail.com. We hope to hear from you soon.

Canada Greener Homes Grant

This is a brief update on a condo unit owner’s participation in the Canada Greener Homes Grant program with the goal of reducing their energy bills and making their condo unit more comfortable to live in. An article in the Winter 2022 newsletter (https://cci-manitoba.ca/ cci-manitoba-magazine/article/7) provided some background on the program and the initial steps they took in their journey. A follow-up article in the Fall 2022 newsletter provided an update based on their energy audit (https://cci-manitoba.ca/cci-manitoba-magazine/article/100).

Here is the easy-to-follow five-step process:

1. Enrol in the program
2. Get a pre-retrofit energy audit done
3. Complete the suggested retrofits
4. Get a post-retrofit energy audit done
5. Submit paperwork for reimbursement

The three retrofits recommended to this unit owner were

1. Upgrade the hot-water system, with estimated annual savings of $233
2. Upgrade the windows, with estimated annual savings of $285
3. Upgrade the heating and cooling system, with annual savings of $518

Hot-water system upgrade

For the upgrade to the hot-water system, they got some quotes for a heat pump water heater and a drain-water heat-recovery system. The total installed cost (taxes not included ) would have been about $6,200, less the potential $1,000 Greener Homes Grant, for a net of $5,200. The estimate for a high-quality water heater was $1,600. The difference between the options was $3,600, coupled with the projected annual savings of $233 would provide a 15-year payback period. The 15-year payback period, compared with the expected 10-year life of either water tank, suggests the economics aren’t really there to support the energy saving option.

For the window upgrade, quotes were received from three suppliers that had products that met the eligibility requirements. The quotes were comparable in terms of energy performance and installed cost of about $20K. Based on the estimated annual savings of $285, the payback period would be 70 years, so clearly not a good choice based solely on economics. However, there would be improved comfort levels in the home and less damage to furnishing due to ultraviolet light levels, which would be significantly reduced. Therefore the unit owner approached the condo board with a proposal to replace the windows but no decision has been reached yet. The primary concern is that the new windows would look different (thicker frame and sash with more insulation) and if other unit owners did similar projects, the uniform exterior visual appearance would be affected. This is one of the complicating factors for energy retrofit projects in condos.

For the upgrade to the heating and cooling system, the unit owner talked to a few industry professionals, who suggested their first step would be to pay for an engineering feasibility study to develop a design for a geothermal heating and cooling system, taking into account the soil conditions and available surface area. The cost of the study would be about the same as the projected annual savings. Without knowing the costs to install and maintain the system and the expected payback period, it is difficult to decide whether it is worth pursuing. Complicating the decision is the fact that heat-exchange piping would have to be installed in the common elements. The unit owner has decided not to approach the condo board with a proposal for this upgrade option.

Overall, the results from enrolling in the Greener Home Program are disappointing, due to the economics and the complications of living in a condo. An alternative approach would be to do a condo corporation retrofit project rather than piecemeal based on the initiative of individual units owners. However, as explained below, a corporation project isn’t straightforward either.

Energy retrofits and condo corporations

Since condos corporations (CCs) have a more complicated ownership structure than single-family homes or multi-family rental properties, both of which have a single owner, it is more challenging to develop and execute a retrofit plan in a condo setting.

First of all, a business case has to be established that shows the savings for the CC and the unit owners. To proceed with a retrofit project, the CC directors must be convinced of the merits of the project, and would then have to persuade unit owners holding at least 80 per cent of the voting rights to fulfil the requirements for substantial changes required in the Manitoba Condominium Act clauses 171-177.

A potential second obstacle is the ability of CCs to fund improvement projects using their established reserve funds. While CCs are required to have a reserve fund in accordance with the Manitoba Condo Act’s clauses 143-148, the funds are to be used for repair and replacement activity as described in the CC's reserve fund study, but replacements are usually done on a "like-for-like" basis. It isn’t clear at this point if retrofit projects could be funded in whole or in part from a reserve fund; there would need to be an investigation to see if there are any legal obstacles. However, even if it was deemed legal and consistent with the Condo Act, most CC reserve funds are well below their ideal balance, so they don’t have the money for a retrofit project anyway.

Two other funding options are available in theory but not necessarily in practice. The first would be for a condo board to authorize a special assessment against all unit owners in accordance with the Manitoba Condo Act clause 142. However, special assessments could be a financial hardship for some unit owners, resulting in owners having to take out loans or perhaps even having to sell their units and move out. Alternatively, the CC could take out a loan based on its income stream from monthly condo fees. However, few financial institutions in Manitoba provide such loans.

If any of you know of a CC planning or executing a retrofit project to improve the sustainability and energy efficiency of its property, please contact me at cci.mb.news@gmail.com.

Multi-family waste diversion and composting (Winnipeg)

The City of Winnipeg is moving forward with a residential food waste (RFW) pickup program (aka green bin) with the possibility of the program starting in Q2 of 2026.

Their plan is detailed in the October 26, 2023 Council Regular Meeting Minutes under the agenda item titled Residential Food Waste (RFW) Pilot Results and Recommendations. However, their plan is only for single-family residences. So what is an environmentally conscious condominium corporation to do? A first step would be to reread our article published last winter Building community: condos and composting. The article mentions Compost Winnipeg, which did a presentation for our members at the November 2023 lunch & learn - note there is a recording of the presentation in the members-only area on our website Podcasts & Webinars.

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Alan Forbes is a CCI Manitoba director, condo owner and treasurer, and is interested in climate change mitigation strategies for residential housing.