Energy@Work Completed 224 compliance certificates 2023 Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB), Ontario Regulation, O.Reg. 506/18!

2023-10-31

October 31st is the final day that the MOE will accept Energy and Water data for the 2023 EWRB reporting period. EWRB provides insight on how buildings compare energy and water consumption and, when used, can help to improve efficiency.

In 2023, Energy@Work, we completed:

• 73 commercial EWRB submissions

• 151 Multi-residential submissions.This brings the total to over 800 submissions since

This brings the total to over 800 submissions since introduced in 2018!

Next step - how to use this valuable data? Energy@Work provides our clients with a report to gain further insight into how a building is performing, as well as a compliance certificate.

For more information on the EWRB process, click the image below to watch our short video:

Note: In 2024, the City of Toronto is also expected to require energy and water reporting, stay tuned for more information.

Energy@Work's 6th Annual Holiday Challenge is Nearly Here!

Energy@Work’s 6th annual challenge presents an opportunity for friendly competition!

The past few years have seen major changes in building occupancy. Keeping energy efficiency in mind when shutting down for the night looks very different in the office vs. working from home. With building occupancy increasing since the pandemic, this is a great opportunity to remind workers who have been working from home to consider energy efficiency when they’ve finished for the day.

The challenge aims to help raise awareness of, and mitigate, how much electricity is wasted over the holidays due to:

• plug load or what is commonly called “Phantom Power” is a huge opportunity!

• systems continuing to run when not needed,

• lighting remaining on, particularly accent and interior lobby lighting,

• TV screens and monitors have off switches which are rarely used in lieu of standby mode,

• exercise equipment “in the ready mode’ but sitting idle
  

This year’s challenge  will occur between 6:00 PM Friday, December 22nd, 2023 - 6:00 AM Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024. 

- we look forward to your participation!

Watch our quick video and find out what the Holiday Challenge is all about!

Previous challenges were a bit hit. Annually, over 30 commercial buildings achieved an average kWh reduction of 9% during the challenge period with no capital!

Recommended Next Steps:

i) Reach out to Energy@Work if you would like to participate: holidaychallenge@energy-efficiency.com

ii) Alert Operations Team of participation

iii) Review existing Holiday Sequence of Operations and develop a challenge period schedule (considering tenant comfort, equipment safety and energy efficiency)

iv) Encourage tenants to participate by eliminating phantom power (switch off monitors, TV screens, coffee makers, etc.)

• Feel free to share our above video

• Further suggestions from Natural Resources Canada

• Energy@Work has posters/marketing materials available to help engage tenants

v) Collaborate with tenants to consider "Hibernation mode adjustments" for unoccupied spaces

Upon receipt of your approval to participate, a participant toolkit will be shared including ‘tips and tricks’ to reduce ‘phantom power’. The property with the greatest percentage kWh reduction during the challenge period compared to the baseline (6:00 PM Friday December 8th, 2023 - 6:00 AM Tuesday, December 19th, 2023) will be the Champion of the 6th Annual Holiday Challenge (prize to follow)!

Last year, NRCan released the Energy Efficiency Checklist for closed or partially vacant offices- Click here to download!

We look forward to another great challenge and your participation for the chance to be the greatest reducer!

Any questions/comments can be directed to: holidaychallenge@energy-efficiency.com

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Double Digit Electricity Price Increase for Households, Small Businesses, and Farms

2023-10-29

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) made the announcement that there will be an increase in electricity prices for households, small businesses, and farms under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP):

• Time-of-Use (TOU),

• Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO), and 

• Tiered price plans

These are significant rate increases. It amplifies the potential to reduce your bill by paying attention to when electricity is used.  Off-peak hours, 7 PM-7 AM on weekdays and weekends, has the lowest rate. 

Energy@Work is suggesting a handy reminder by hanging this sign on major appliances, fridge, dishwasher, or laundry door for the off-peak hours. Feel free to print, design your own, or work with your children to design a sign and teach them about electricity and sustainability! 

If you create your own sign, we’d love to see it and share it amongst our team. Opportunities to use lower priced electricity include:

• Laundry

• Air conditioning/ heaters

• Dishwasher

• Charging electric vehicles

• Meal prepping/ baking/ using electric stove, etc.

As always, the cheapest electricity is the electricity we DON’T use- conserve when you can!

References:

• OEB: Ontario Electricity-prices for households & small-business

• OEB: Historical electricity rates

Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) Explained- What is it? How to report? Why?

EWRB reporting is an opportunity to review your condo’s energy and water use and compare your condo with similar buildings. It is also a requirement under the Condo Act of Ontario and is an Ontario Regulation (O. Reg. 506/18).

Take a look at our quick video below to find out more and contact Energy@Work to get started!

Join the 2022 BOMA Toronto Beyond Earth Hour Challenge

BOMA Toronto Beyond Earth Hour Challenge Period: Friday, March 25th at 6:00PM - Monday, March 28th at 6:00AM

Expanding on the success of this BOMA Toronto initiative and last year's success, BOMA Toronto in collaboration with program advisor, Energy@Work Inc. and QMC Integrated Submetering Solutions, are pleased to open up this year’s 2022 Beyond Earth Hour Challenge. The 9th annual challenge focuses on targeting building performance and aims to encourage collective conservation efforts of landlords and tenants over the Earth Hour Weekend.

In the spirit of Earth Hour and energy conservation, participants will be able to compete for award recognition as the Top Reducer in the Building category with onus on landlords to find operational changes and collaborate with tenants to discover behavioural changes that affect energy use over the entire weekend as opposed to just the one hour.

Through collaborative efforts, our hope is that landlords will continue to partner with tenants to collectively realize energy-saving strategies that in turn drive down operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

To learn more about this year's challenge and official rules, visit the BOMA Beyond Earth Hour Challenge Resource Page

Take a look at our video for tips on reducing your energy use during the Earth Hour Challenge weekend!

Questions can be directed to Program Director, Lisa Liang

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COVID Pivot: Energy@Work has realized and quantified energy savings during the pandemic!

The COVID-19 Pandemic has thrown some curveballs to most businesses over the past year and Energy@Work is no exception. We had no doubt that the energy efficiency measures were successfully lowering energy use in commercial buildings but the difficulty was in quantifying the savings.

Berkeley Castle is the first property to have savings verified by Toronto Hydro for the pandemic. In 2017, Berkeley enrolled into a pay-for-performance incentive program (OPSaver) which focused on low and no-cost operational improvements. The program required an Energy Management Action Plan (E-MAP) and Measurement and Verification (M&V) plan compliant with IPMVP guidelines. Verified electricity efficiency reductions are rewarded with an annual incentive of $0.025 /kWh. Annual electricity savings from 2017 to December 2020 were verified and Berkeley Castle received the requested incentive. Energy@Work successfully submitted Berkeley Castle’s results in March, 2021.

Click here to visit EVO’s site and read more about EVOs approaches and methods and our application of the process!

Join the 2021 BOMA Toronto Beyond Earth Hour Challenge

BOMA Toronto Beyond Earth Hour Challenge Period: Friday, March 26th at 6:00PM - Monday, March 29th at 6:00AM

Expanding on the success of this BOMA Toronto initiative and last year's success, BOMA Toronto in collaboration with program advisor, Energy@Work Inc. and QMC Integrated Submetering Solutions, are pleased to open up this year’s 2021 Beyond Earth Hour Challenge. The 8th annual challenge focuses on targeting building performance and aims to encourage collective conservation efforts of landlords and tenants over the Earth Hour Weekend.

In the spirit of Earth Hour and energy conservation, participants will be able to compete for award recognition as the Top Reducer in the Building category with onus on landlords to find operational changes and collaborate with tenants to discover behavioural changes that affect energy use over the entire weekend as opposed to just the one hour.

Through collaborative efforts, our hope is that landlords will continue to partner with tenants to collectively realize energy-saving strategies that in turn drive down operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Due to low occupancy, the tenant challenge for 2021 is being deferred until 2022. Register Now for the building challenge

A FREE 2021 Beyond Earth Hour Challenge Introductory Webinar will be held on Tuesday, February 23rd at 9:00AM: Click Here to Register

To learn more about this year's challenge and official rules, visit the BOMA Beyond Earth Hour Challenge Resource Page

Take a look at our video for tips on reducing your energy use during the Earth Hour Challenge weekend!

Questions can be directed to Program Director, Lisa Liang

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Case Study: Entuitive Compliance Inc.- BOMA Toronto Pinnacle Innovation Finalist

Entuitive Compliance Inc’s Enterprise Solution, Compliance Tracker™ (CT) enables users to validate the identity and credentials of all hired contractor workers and vendors from any web-enabled device or computer. The CT helps to manage by exception and hire with confidence, ensuring that work being done is performed by qualified professionals.

Through the organization’s customer-centric operations, the CT includes ongoing innovative enhancements based on direct user feedback. The CT continues to invigorate the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) sector by integrating best practices in an everyday system utilized by contractors, that directly reinforces the significance of fluid transparency between involved parties, thus earning Entuitive Compliance Inc. a finalist spot in BOMA Toronto’s 2020 Pinnacle Innovation Award. The award acknowledges and celebrates an innovative approach to better solve specific needs or an ingenious way to keep customers happy in the CRE industry.

2017: Presented the Canadian Insurance Innovator of The Year Award for standout achievement among innovators in the insurance analytics landscape and was the runner up in 2018.

2020: Participated as a finalist for BOMA Toronto’s Pinnacle Innovation Award.

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Congratulations to the 2020 BOMA race2reduce Toronto CREST Award Winners!

The race2reduce program is a call for Climate Action through improved building performance, innovation and collaboration between building owners, managers and tenants.
 
Energy@Work Inc. is proud to stand amongst this year’s 2020 race2reduce CREST Award Recipients as the winner of the Tenant Collaborative Excellence category for under 500,000 sqft. We are thrilled to congratulate the following winners on their continuous efforts and dedication to energy conservation and climate action:

90 Sheppard Ave E achieved the Climate Leadership Award

4711 Yonge St achieved the Collaborative Excellence Award

365 Bloor St E achieved the Innovative Excellence Award

15 Toronto St achieved the Climate Leadership Award

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