/ Case Studies

Energy Retrofits Made Easy: The Better Homes Hamilton Approach

Funder:

Research Area:
Centre for Climate Change Management (CCCM)

Research Team:
Emily Vis, Nico Strabac

Better Homes Hamilton is a home energy retrofit program co-developed by CCCM and the City of Hamilton to help homeowners reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The program offers financial incentives, coaching services, and access to rebates, making energy-efficient home upgrades more accessible. CCCM provided strategic program design, stakeholder engagement, and implementation planning, leading to strong community interest and initial funding approval for a pilot program.

The Challenge

Residential buildings account for 13% of Canada’s greenhouse gas
emissions. Approximately 78% of building emissions result from space
and water heating.

Municipalities across Ontario are creating home energy retrofit programs
to incentivize homeowners to renovate their homes to both reduce
energy demand and household reliance on fossil fuels. The City of
Hamilton estimates that all existing Hamilton homes will need to be
retrofitted to reach net zero by 2050.

The City of Hamilton wanted to develop a program that holistically
assists residents in undertaking energy retrofits while removing barriers.

In partnership with City staff, the CCCM developed the Better Homes
Hamilton program. The program provides attractive financial incentives
as well as a customer service model with coaching services to demystify
the retrofit process, including helping residents take advantage of
federal, provincial, and utility-based rebates and incentives.

The Objectives

Recognizing the need and opportunity to support home energy retrofits,
the City commissioned the CCCM to co-develop the Better Homes
Hamilton program. The objectives of the project were to:
- Design a program which supports the greatest number of homeowners
  across Hamilton in undertaking upgrades which substantially reduce
  greenhouse gas emissions while improving home energy efficiency;
- Provide financing which assists homeowners in overcoming the high
  capital cost of retrofits, while gaining access to coaching services;
- Assist homeowners in future-readying their homes, while improving
  household comfort,
- Support the objectives laid out in Low Carbon Transformation 2:
  Transforming our Buildings within the Community Energy & Emissions
  Plan (CEEP) as part of Hamilton’s Climate Action Strategy (HCAS)

Services Provided By The CCCM

Project management.
Market research.
Business case development.
Stakeholder consultation and management.
Brand and marketing campaign development.
Community engagement.
Implementation planning.

Impacts

Over 60 stakeholders consulted in the design of the program.
Over 300 residents surveyed.
Marketing and awareness campaign reached over 300,000 residents.
In May 2023, Hamilton City Council approved funding to support a pilot
program to support 50 home retrofit projects set to launch at the end of
2023.