Retrofit program
Open the door to new energy savings possibilities.
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With Save on Energy incentives, you can upgrade your equipment for less, improving everything from your operations to employee morale.
The Retrofit program is designed to provide a variety of options for businesses, so you can find the right fit for your operations, regardless of your industry. Under the Retrofit program, there are two types of project applications: prescriptive track and custom track.
Prescriptive track applications are ideal for quick system upgrades. Incentive levels are based on a predefined amount with applications that are easy to follow and have a fast turnaround.
Incentive amounts for lighting and other measures (which include lighting controls) are per unit of product.
To participate, your project must be pre-approved. Small projects must be worth a minimum incentive of $100
Custom track applications are designed to provide flexibility for more comprehensive projects, with opportunities for increased energy savings. Incentives are based on energy savings over pre-project baselines. All custom track incentives are capped at 50 per cent of project cost.
The incentives are based on the specific information you provide about your project, which may include:
- A description of the facility baseline electricity use
- A description of the equipment being replaced
- A description of the new equipment to be installed
- The operating schedule (days per week, hours per day, time of day)
- The total cost of the retrofit, including equipment, labour and disposal costs
| Available incentives | |
|---|---|
| Lighting | The greater of either $400/kW of demand savings or $0.05/kWh of first-year electricity savings |
| Other measures, including lighting controls, building automation systems, water chillers and cooling towers | The greater of either $800/kW or $0.10/kWh of first-year electricity savings |
| Multi-family – tenant education | $200/kW of the estimated demand savings, and to a maximum of 10 per cent of the incentives paid for the equipment replacement project |
| Social housing | Advance 50 per cent of eligible financial incentive funding before project starts and after project approval by your local hydro company Gap grant funding: double the participant incentive, capped at 50 per cent of the project cost |
To participate, your project must be pre-approved. For the custom track application, your project must have an estimated demand reduction of 1 kW, or first-year annual energy savings of 2,000 kWh.
All custom track incentives are capped at 50 per cent of project cost. Projects must also deliver energy savings for at least 48 months.
Applying for Retrofit program incentives?
The Retrofit application portal has moved to www.retrofitportal.ca.
Register for an account or log in now.
Learn how to apply for Retrofit program incentives.
Eligibility
Retrofit incentives are available to owners or lessees* of:
- Commercial spaces or buildings, such as offices, retail and grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and warehouses
- Industrial facilities in sectors such as food and beverage, automotive, plastics and packaging industries
- Institutional buildings, including hospitals, universities, municipal halls and arenas
- Multi-family buildings, such as apartments (including low-income and social housing) or condominiums
- Agricultural facilities, including dairy, swine or poultry farms, greenhouses and nurseries
*If you lease, you must have the owner’s consent or authorization.
Retrofit Program – Eligibility CriteriaVersion 2 | August 2, 2016
What kinds of projects are eligible?
Overall, projects that are eligible under the Retrofit program are those that provide sustainable, measurable and verifiable reductions in peak electricity demand and electricity consumption.
Examples include:
- Lighting retrofits
- Lighting controls
- HVAC redesign
- Chiller replacement
- Variable-speed drives
- Improvement of a building envelope's thermal performance through measures such as:
- increased insulation, and installation of high-performance windows and frames
- low-emissivity window glazing
- low-emissivity roof barriers
- implementation of new operating procedures required either to obtain or increase the effectiveness of an energy management system or building automation system, including the installation of equipment such as:
- an energy management system
- building automation systems
- sensors
- control equipment
- metering equipment
- related communication systems
Are you a multi-site business?
If your business has multiple locations across Ontario, you may be able to take advantage of Save on Energy's Retrofit program for multi-site customers. Through this program, you'll have a single point of contact, at one designated lead hydro company, for various projects across various locations. To learn more, get in touch with your local hydro company and ask them about the Multi-Site Application model.
Key documents
- Measurement and Verification Procedure
Version 2 | April 11, 2016
- Technical User Guide for Engineered Worksheets
Version 5 | January 2015
- Agribusiness Version 7.1 | May 1, 2017
- Exterior Lighting Version 6.2 | November 22, 2017
- Lighting Version 6.2 | September 10, 2018
- Motors Version 6 | May 1, 2017
- Multi-Res In Suite Version 6 | May 1, 2017
- Notched Cogged V Belt Version 6 | May 1, 2017
- Services and Hospitality Version 6 | May 1, 2017
- Unitary AC Version 6.1 | May 1, 2017
- Variable Frequency Drive Version 6 | May 1, 2017
- VSD Compressed Air Version 5 | September 12, 2014
- Combined Lighting | Version 6
- Compressed Air | Version 6
- Custom Projects | Version 6.2
- Horticulture | Version 1.0
- Lighting Controls | Version 6.1
- Unitary AC | Version 6.2
- VSD Compressed Air | Version 6
- VSD Fan | Version 6
- VSD Pump | Version 6
- Qualifying Agricultural Exhaust Fans
Version 6.1 | September 14, 2016
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