Finances

September 10, 2025 Published by Toronto and Area Chapter - By Robert Bon

Financial Planning Support for Building Upgrades

From the Summer 2025 issue of CCI Toronto Condovoice Magazine.

A green path to building retrofits and taking advantage of funds from TAF

There are many reasons why condo board members are pursuing building retrofits – upgrades that make buildings more efficient, comfortable, and resilient. Retrofits improve resale value and lower energy costs, ultimately increasing resident satisfaction. But for condo boards with varying degrees of expertise and competing priorities, planning these projects can be overwhelming.

As experienced providers of deep energy retrofit services and funding in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), a nonprofit climate agency, is well positioned to support building owners through the process. In response to the unique capital planning challenges faced by condo boards, TAF’s Retrofit Accelerator team has developed a new financial planning tool for condos, along with funding support and technical guidance.

Why start planning your condo upgrades now?

Beyond the benefits for owners and residents, momentum for retrof it projects will be further driven by regulatory requirements. As part of the City of Toronto’s Net Zero Existing Building Strategy, City staff are consulting on and developing Building Emission Performance Standards (BEPS), which set emissions thresholds for large buildings and are phased in over time. Toronto is leading the GTHA in this area, but similar policies are becoming increasingly popular across North America; major cities like New York City, Boston, Seattle, and Vancouver all have their own BEPS policy in place.

In addition to policies that will encourage emissions reduction, the co-benefits that arise from building retrofits are an enticing incentive. By planning ahead for these upgrades, condo board members and owners can take advantage of technical and financial support programs, as well as time the upgrades to coincide with scheduled building repair and maintenance. These investments will help owners future-proof their buildings and protect property values.

Introducing:
Enhanced Reserve Fund Studies

The condo market presents some unique challenges for building retrofits. Decisions to pursue upgrade projects need to be considered and weighed against many priorities. Recognizing this need for education, consultation, and project planning, the Retrofit Accelerator team has stepped in to create a new framework to support retrofit planning: Enhanced Reserve Fund Studies. These studies are intended to align with existing capital planning for condos and supplement findings with emissions reduction opportunities, known as decarbonization.

In conjunction with completing a typical reserve fund study, the framework for the “enhanced” scope of work consists of three main components:

1. A baseline utility analysis to determine the annual energy and emissions profile of the building. This can reveal key characteristics in a building’s performance including trends in consumption as well as benchmarking relative to similar buildings.
2. A building decarbonization path is established by reviewing eligible retrof it projects. These projects consider the existing building heating demand, space limitations, available electrical capacity and the suitability of potential low carbon retrofits (e.g., heat pumps, heat recovery, etc.).
3. A side-by-side comparison is presented to understand the difference in funding needed for a potential decarbonization plan vs the standard reserve fund study “businessas- usual” approach. The comparison highlights the incremental project costs necessary over the baseline reserve fund study, and emphasizes the savings needed to fund future capital projects.

Retrofits require a phased approach to equipment upgrades, so it’s important to plan emissions reduction in parallel with existing condo reserve fund planning. The Enhanced Reserve Fund Study framework supports condos in a way that fits their individual needs and timing. It’s for these insights that the Retrofit Accelerator is offering up to 70% funding for condos that undertake this work.

Ways to electrify and improve efficiency

Condo board members and owners will need to look past traditional upgrades that target relatively easy efficiency measures and quick paybacks, such as lighting or building automation system retrofits. Achieving significant emissions reductions typically requires upgrades of existing equipment and investment in low carbon solutions. There are multiple pathways to decarbonization of buildings, but the most impactful strategies focus on:

1. Reducing the heating and cooling demand by upgrading the thermal performance of the building exterior
2. Fuel switching from conventional natural gas heating systems to newer electric heat pump systems and using heat recovery where possible

Depending on the building age, envelope upgrades can drastically reduce the overall heating and cooling demand, allowing equipment to be sized smaller with lower replacement costs. These projects generally require major “reskinning”, or “overcladding”, the building envelope, which involves significant repairs and capital. So, this type of work is usually only considered if aligned with regular life cycle renewal of the building envelope components (such as window replacements) to take advantage of economies of scale.

For most multi-unit buildings, retrofit projects include switching from natural gas heating and standard A/C equipment to heat pumps that provide efficient heating and cooling. Whereas typical gas equipment is nominally rated between 80% and 95% efficient, heat pumps can provide up to three times more output energy than the electricity it takes to run them.

How to take advantage of funding and technical support

Whether condo board members and owners are interested in building retrofit projects to future-proof their building or to help reduce emissions, the time is right to learn more about the available upgrade opportunities. Through expert support, financial planning, and education, many of the challenges that may arise from building retrofit projects can be alleviated. The Retrofit Accelerator and Enhanced Reserve Fund Studies provide the opportunity for condos to gain a better understanding of the possible upgrades available to them, in addition to financial and technical support.

---

Robert Bon, P. Eng. Senior Manager, Technical Services