It's still unclear how the process of securing environmental approvals for combined heat and power systems will be streamlined, but the Ontario government's recent pledge has been greeted enthusiastically in the buildings sector.

The move concludes the process begun five months ago when the newly elected United Conservative Party government repealed the carbon tax and eliminated the funding source for the incentives.

Few signatories to the Paris Agreement have specifically listed energy efficiency targets in required national plans for meeting their commitments so Three Percent Club founders see plenty of room to capture untapped emissions reductions.

Ontario draws on the legacy of more than a dozen years of programming, while Energy Efficiency Alberta has had little time to capture public or capital planners' attention.

With the largest share of relatively inexpensive lighting upgrades completed, finding additional energy savings gets more complicated and costly. However, significant paybacks are projected from the increase in upfront program costs.

Selected provisions enabling some of Ontario's key energy and water conservation programs will be transferred to the Electricity Act.

The Ontario NDP's proposed plan would focus efforts to manage peak demand more narrowly on the Industrial Conservation Initiative and voluntary residential programs enabled through smart grid technology.

The upfront costs of Ontario's electricity conservation programs are lower than some candidates for provincial office are alleging.

Energy experts can help condo corporations identify more complex savings opportunities through an energy audit.

Ontario's newly released provincial Long Term Energy Plan, now updated to replace the 2013 version, rescinds favoured status for combined heat and power systems that rely on fossil fuels.

Commercial business operators and broader public sector entities such as health care facilities, schools, universities and colleges can claim for partial refunds of applicable purchases made since March 24 of this year.

New criteria for calculating thermal bridging and a mandate for heat/energy recovery systems in a wide range of conditions could have the most significant impact on the design and construction of new buildings.

Developers of multi-residential buildings can expect more pointed direction on their lighting choices as North American jurisdictions update their building regulations.

Shifts in the allocation of Ontario's Global Adjustment will benefit some electricity customers and further burden others, but proactive commercial real estate owners/managers are poised to be among the winners.

Several seasons of wear and tear can impact the efficiency of a condominium’s in-ground irrigation system. How maintenance can help lower water bills.

A property manager walks through how condo boards can combat rising utility bills by starting an energy-saving campaign.

Cooling towers and irrigation add to summertime water demand, while many Canadian municipalities have implemented multi-year annual rate increases to help fund needed upgrades to aging infrastructure.