Buildings are where Albertans live, work and gather. They are also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. In Calgary and Edmonton, buildings account for 40 to 60% of emissions. Many of the people who design, build and renovate those buildings are already finding ways to reduce that impact. A $1-million, multi-year grant from the Peter Gilgan Foundation to Alberta Ecotrust Foundation will help the Emissions-Neutral Buildings Information Exchange, or ENBIX, support more of that work across the province. 

What is ENBIX?

Led by Alberta Ecotrust, ENBIX is a collaborative initiative that brings Alberta’s building industry together to share knowledge and build capacity for emissions-neutral construction and retrofits. The aim is to help Alberta’s building industry cut emissions, lower costs and encourage innovation as it moves toward emissions-neutral construction and retrofits. 

Since launching in December 2023, ENBIX has offered educational resources and hosted events and knowledge exchanges where professionals can learn from each other. It has developed five workshops that are offered free of charge, held in-person events in 10 communities across Alberta and now offers more than 180 resources on its website. As of March 31, 2026, ENBIX had connected with more than 16,000 building, construction and renovation professionals and hosted more than 140 events, trainings and workshops with partners. ENBIX works with organizations across Alberta’s building sector, including the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, regional construction associations, BILD Alberta and regional BILD associations, the Smart Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Association, Carbon Leadership Forum Alberta and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

What this grant will support

The Peter Gilgan Foundation's grant will run from November 2026 to November 2029 and will focus on three areas of work.

1. Expanding the reach of ENBIX 

The grant will help ENBIX offer more resources, events and training, and more ways to connect, so that more builders, designers, trades and building owners across Alberta can get involved. Over the next three years, ENBIX aims to expand the reach of its knowledge exchanges, workshops and other events, and add new resources on sustainable, climate-resilient building to its Resource Library.

2. A stronger partnership with Carbon Leadership Forum Alberta

ENBIX will deepen its work with the Carbon Leadership Forum Alberta, which focuses on circular construction and embodied carbon. Each year, the partnership will offer events and new resources on circular construction, along with events in Calgary and Edmonton that bring industry leaders and policymakers together on embodied carbon policy and implementation.

3. Getting to Zero research and implementation 

The Alberta Ecotrust Getting to Zero Research Project, which launched in January 2026, works with Alberta’s residential building industry to gather real-world data from low- and zero-emissions buildings and turn it into insights that can be applied across the province. With grant support, the project will help move this research into practice. Each year from 2027 to 2029, it will select up to 20 building projects across Alberta through an expression-of-interest process, aiming to support 50 projects in total.

Why it matters

“A sustainable, prosperous Alberta will be built by people, so investing in capacity and workforce development is how we deliver affordability, good jobs and high performance standards. By serving as a trusted voice between industry and regulators, and backed by funders including Peter Gilgan Foundation, we’re showing what alignment between industry, philanthropy and government can achieve,”  says Mike Mellross, VP of Alberta Ecotrust. "The Peter Gilgan Foundation's investment means we can reach more of the industry across the province and help move research into practice on real projects. We're grateful for their partnership and their confidence in this work."

“We are so proud to partner with Alberta Ecotrust, who has shown us what moving the needle can look like. A sustainable built environment is one of the biggest levers we have against climate change and we are excited to see Alberta Ecotrust bringing industry together to find a new way forward,” states Lucy Lu, Program Manager, Peter Gilgan Foundation.

Thank you

We are grateful to the Peter Gilgan Foundation for its investment in Alberta's building sector, and to every ENBIX participant, collaborator and partner who has helped shape this work so far.