EDMONTON, June 20, 2023 – Alberta building owners now have an easier way to retrofit their buildings to make them more energy efficient, less carbon intensive, and ultimately more valuable. Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and Efficiency Capital have partnered to deliver deep energy retrofits in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) across the province.

The Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, an environmental charity working on climate action in Calgary and Edmonton through its Climate Innovation Fund, is committed to creating new and innovative programs to help both cities reach their climate goals. Efficiency Capital is Canada’s first energy-as-a-service company that delivers fully funded turnkey deep energy retrofits financed through the energy cost savings.

Proving existing market demand for these types of offerings in Alberta, the first project as a result of this partnership – two buildings with 165 units in Edmonton – is already in development. The project’s Director of Operations, Philipp Binder, confirms, “This model works great because Efficiency Capital manages the process, provides access to the capital and provides assurances with its partners that the cost savings and emissions reductions will be achieved.”

The goal of this partnership between Alberta Ecotrust and Efficiency Capital is to accelerate building retrofits and this aligns with both the goals of the City of Calgary’s and the City of Edmonton’s climate plans. Approximately 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Calgary, and 20 per cent in Edmonton, come from residential buildings, and retrofitting them is a key action for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

“As a founding member of the Low Carbon Cities Canada network, the partnership between Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and Efficiency Capital is a natural fit. This announcement will not only help build resilient Alberta communities and accelerate emissions reductions, but it will also create good paying jobs and support economic growth that leaves no one behind.” says the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources.

“Through this partnership we can better help building owners implement deep emissions reductions while also creating more local jobs in the retrofit industry,” says Mike Mellross, Alberta Ecotrust Program Director. “Alberta Ecotrust will be a source of capital as well as serve as a connector between Efficiency Capital and building owners by providing some coaching assistance at the outset of the project.”

“Efficiency Capital’s innovative business model is designed to help building owners to achieve better building performance, reduce emissions and save money on energy bills without needing upfront capital.” says CEO Chandra Ramadurai. “We are excited to partner with Alberta Ecotrust, bridging private and public sector funding to break down barriers to low-carbon solutions and improve energy efficiency in the residential multi-unit building sector.”

Between Efficiency Capital’s impact funding platform and Alberta Ecotrust Foundation’s Climate Innovation Fund, there is over $140 million in capital that can be mobilized into project investments.

Interested building owners and trade allies can reach out to buildings@albertaecotrust.com to learn more.

About Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and the Climate Innovation Fund

Alberta Ecotrust Foundation is a founding member of the Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) network. LC3 supports cities and communities in reaching their carbon emissions reduction potential. This initiative is implemented in partnership among seven local centres and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Funded by a Government of Canada endowment through FCM, LC3 is part of a national investment in municipal climate action to accelerate urban climate solutions and to help achieve Canada’s climate goal of net-zero by 2050..

As an LC3 Centre, Alberta Ecotrust received a $43.4 million endowment from the federal government to create the Climate Innovation Fund. The Fund provides programming in Calgary and Edmonton, taking on a nimble, accelerator role, complementing and advancing the climate leadership work undertaken by the municipalities.

For more information, visit albertaecotrust.com.

About Efficiency Capital

Efficiency Capital (EC) is Canada's first energy-as-a-service company that develops, funds and manages net-zero projects in the built environment. Incubated by The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) – a regional climate agency that is the Toronto and Hamilton area hub of the LC3 network – EC seeks to increase the flow of third-party capital into such projects by leveraging strategic partnerships with various banks, impact investors, community foundations and other organizations to enable the transition to a low-carbon economy. EC has access to over $100M in low-cost project funding to deliver fully funded, turnkey and de-risked decarbonization solutions.

For more information visit www.efficiencycap.com.

Media contacts:

Alberta Ecotrust Foundation

Andrea Soler, Communications Director, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
a.soler@albertaecotrust.com
403.209.2245 x 216

Efficiency Capital

Dena Cole, President and Co-Founder, Bubblegum Canada
dena@bubblegumcanada.com
647.825.3927