energy efficiency

A view of Toronto. Trees are mixed in with high rise residential buildings and low rise apartments

We thrive in better buildings – how a new bylaw could transform retrofits in the GTHA

1/2025 - The City of Toronto is introducing Building Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) to tackle building-related carbon emissions.

People are gathered in small groups in a green space in front of a multi-level residential building

Lowering emissions, not equity – perspectives on Toronto’s building policy

1/2025 - Toronto's emerging BEPS policy needs to be well-designed and informed by representative stakeholders and rightsholders regarding equity impacts.

TAF congratulates Province of Ontario for committing to invest $10.9 billion in electricity conservation and demand-side management

1/2025 - Aakash Harpalani, Director of Clean Energy, comments on Ontario’s 2025-2028 Incentives Framework.

Balconies sit in rows and columns on the exterior of a Toronto apartment building

What building types will be included in Toronto’s building emissions performance standards?

12/2024 - One of the most important questions in designing a BEPS is which types and sizes of buildings should be included.

Two tall buildings in the background with a flat iron building in the middle. On the left is a midrise building, and on the right is a green and white GO bus.

Commercial real estate has everything to gain from building emissions performance standards

12/2024 - The commercial real estate sector should be excited about Toronto moving forward with its Building Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) policy.

How Ontario’s new energy plans can tackle surging electricity emissions

11/2024 - Laura McLoskey, Climate Policy Coordinator, weighs in on various stakeholder consultations about Ontario's energy future.

Demand for prefabricated overcladding is here, supply is catching up

11/2024 - How can we make building retrofits faster, easier, and less expensive? Keith Burrows, Director, Low-Carbon Buildings, takes us on a journey of insulation that goes on the outside of an existing building.

How demand-side management investments deliver a reliable, low-carbon grid

9/2024 - With the right public and private investments, demand-side management is one of the best tools we have to minimize the need for gas plants and grid expansion, keep electricity costs down, and build on Ontario’s past record as a leading low-carbon power producer.

A new building policy approach that’s working

11/2023 - Existing building performance has been historically challenging to regulate, but that’s changing with the recent proliferation of mandatory building performance standards (BPS) across North America.

Will Ontario’s net-zero electricity grid cost $400 billion?

12/2022 - Decarbonization isn’t a barrier to affordability – it’s the key to an economical, reliable electricity grid. TAF provides analysis of the IESO's Pathways to Decarbonization study.

Ontario’s next gas plant scandal

10/2022 - On October 7th, Ontario’s Minister of Energy directed the IESO to procure 1,500 megawatts of new natural gas plants to generate electricity. This decision was taken without any public consultation, based on a short IESO report with no financial analysis or comparison of other pathways. Amidst increasing fossil fuel prices and plummeting costs of readily available clean solutions, investing in new gas plants would be environmentally and fiscally reckless. But it’s not a done deal.

Dear election candidates: Climate action means working across issues and regional lines

10/2022 - To handle the complex and intersectional issues that face our region, hopeful new leaders will need to follow the carbon and collaborate.