Updated eligibility measures for the Building Energy Retrofit Accelerator program
Jun. 29/22
Change for Climate is a climate change initiative from the City of Edmonton.
Jun. 29/22
Change for Climate is a climate change initiative from the City of Edmonton.
To help local businesses on their road to energy efficiency, the City’s Building Energy Retrofit Accelerator (BERA) Program offers rebates for energy efficient upgrades in commercial buildings. Measure categories include HVAC systems, lighting fixtures, controls, hot water, building envelope and solar—with bonusing available for projects that undergo upgrades in multiple categories!
A given project may receive up to $125,000 (before bonusing), per program year.
Both the program eligibility criteria and eligible measures list have been recently updated:
- To help smaller sized businesses take advantage of BERA, we have reduced the program eligibility from 5,000 square feet to 1,000 square feet.
- An expanded eligible measures list has been released, with the addition of the following newly eligible measures:
- Solar PV
- Battery Energy Storage
- Building Automation System
- Troffer Fixtures and Retrofit Kits
- Condensing Boilers – Boiler Economizer
- Condensing Boilers – Boiler and Heater Controls
- High-Efficiency Chillers – Air Cooled
- High-Efficiency Packed Cooling
- Air-Source Heat Pump Water Heater
- Air Curtains
Please note that participation in Edmonton’s Building Energy Benchmarking (BEB) program is required to access BERA rebates. Through BEB, participants share their utility use data to better understand their building’s energy efficiency in comparison with other similar buildings in the City.
Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP)
Commercial property owners in Edmonton can also finance up to 100% of their energy efficiency or renewable energy projects through the Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP). Commercial property owners can finance projects with a competitive interest rate and repayment terms of up to 20 years (depending on the type of upgrade). To help maximize funding support, upgrades that are eligible for BERA Rebates can be combined with CEIP financing, including commercial solar projects.
Additional Rebates
BERA participants are encouraged to apply for additional rebates through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Energy Savings for Business (ESB) program. ESB provides funding for Alberta businesses to improve building energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
With financial incentives for retrofit projects, participants benefit from short and long term cost savings and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Not only are these measures good for the environment, they can offer the additional benefits of comfort, aesthetics and economic savings.
