News

How hard is it to get EV charging stations into residential buildings?

6/2023 - CBC NEWS - Ian Klesmer wants to see more funding to help condo boards and building owners figure out EV charging. When they do, it will be much more affordable & convenient to switch to an EV.

Canadian cities embrace a more climate-friendly form of cooling

6/2023 - NATIONAL OBSERVER - “By 2025 Toronto Green Standard will be strong enough to ensure most new buildings have heat pumps. For existing buildings and repairs, there’s no such policy requirement, but we want to see heat pumps everywhere possible,” Bryan Purcell

Finding pathways out of Ontario’s hydro and climate mess

5/2023 - POLICY OPTIONS: New ground has been broken in thinking about electricity systems, but there needs to be transparent and accountable planning for implementation.

Toronto city council voted against more gas-plant production. The province is making it happen anyway

5/2023 - TORONTO STAR: “The pace that electricity sector emissions are rising is going to offset a lot of the gains made elsewhere. We’re a little further behind every year," says Bryan Purcell.

How a downtown Toronto condo defied the odds to save energy and money

5/2023 - TORONTO STAR: “This particular project, we were interested right off the bat because of the emission reduction potential for sure, but also because of this particular use of technology: A drop-in replacement for a chiller really has the potential to scale and we wanted to do what we could to make sure the project was a success,” said Keith Burrows, TAF's Director of Low-Carbon Buildings.

Putting high-rises on a low-carbon diet

5/2023 - GLOBE AND MAIL: Policy paper published last year by U of T, City of Toronto, The Atmospheric Fund and Mantle Developments calls for the regulation of embodied carbon as well as the development of standardized ways of measuring these emissions.

What to make of IESO’s natural gas expansion, and what cities can do now

5/2023 - Ontario just announced the results of a competitive procurement process, which will expand natural gas-powered electricity generation capacity by up to 586 megawatts. What's next for cities who need to decarbonize?

TAF Newsletter: May 2023

5/2023 - This edition highlights priorities for Toronto’s next mayor and the latest council climate roundup, market opportunities for heat pump bulk buys, new retrofit projects, advocacy for Canada’s Green Building Strategy, and summer internships.

Toronto climate priorities every mayoral candidate should get behind

5/2023 - Toronto’s next leader should put fast, effective climate action at the centre of the city’s cornerstone strategies for economic development, housing, transportation, health, and more. VP Bryan Purcell discusses three practical actions needed.

Heat pumps are ready for prime time. Bulk buying can pick up the pace.

5/2023 - One way to get heat pump purchases and installations faster in communities is to aggregate local demand and take advantage of bulk buying strategies, based on a new TAF-commissioned report. TAF Director, Ekaterina Tzekova’s new blog highlights what we learned.

Ontario wants new gas plants to boost the province’s electricity system

5/2023 - "We're quite concerned about where Ontario's electric grid is going," says Bryan Purcell.

Ontario’s carbon emissions rose only slightly in 2021 and pandemic-driven shifts could be why

4/2023 - "Climate action really is going to create a lot of benefits, and it's important to make sure that the government follows through," said Ekaterina Tzekova, director of research and innovation for The Atmospheric Fund