This is an excellent time for all levels of government in Canada to encourage and support improvements in the energy efficiency of existing buildings in order to protect the public, improve health, reduce social inequities, and fight climate change, while creating jobs and cutting energy costs for consumers.
Building Retrofits Fight Climate Change
Building retrofits are among the most promising measures that can reduce climate emissions relatively quickly.1 In Canada, buildings use about one third of the energy that is produced2 and generate about 13% of climate emissions.3
Energy expert, Ralph Torrie, has estimated that, with government investments of $21 billion over 10 years, we could retrofit 60% of existing homes and 60% of commercial and institutional workspaces in Canada by 2030. This investment would reduce climate emissions by about 58 million tonnes (Mt) per year by 2030.4 Under such a plan, retrofit measures would include actions such as upgrading insulation and windows, improving basement flood protection, and making greater use of heat pumps and renewable energies.
Building Retrofits Can Protect People from Heat
Canada is warming at twice the global rate and Canada’s North is warming even faster.5 While this shift in temperature will decrease the number of cold weather-related deaths in Canada, it will also increase the number of premature deaths related to warmer temperatures.6
Hot weather puts a strain on the body’s ability to control its internal temperature,7 a physical stress that can aggravate chronic health conditions. Extreme temperatures can produce heat exhaustion and heat stroke, increase hospital emergency visits and admissions, and premature deaths, particularly among older people.8
Rapid warming across Canada has seen the average annual heat-related deaths for people over 65 increase by nearly 60% over the last few decades. In 2018, it is estimated that over 2,700 people in this age group died prematurely because of heat.9 Studies have also found that social and inter-personal violence, including domestic violence, can increase during periods of extreme heat.10
Building retrofits, such as insulation and heat pumps, can cool homes and reduce the adverse health impacts that can result from increasing temperatures.
Building Retrofits can Create Healthy Indoor Environments
Cold, mould and dampness in indoor environments are also associated with increases in cardiovascular diseases, strokes, premature deaths, asthma and other respiratory diseases. Studies have found that interventions that improve the comfort and quality of indoor environments can improve overall health, respiratory health, and mental health with particular benefits for those with pre-existing respiratory conditions.11
Building retrofits such as improved insulation, energy efficient windows, modern heating and cooling systems, and better ventilation, can improve health by keeping occupants warmer in winter and improving indoor air quality year-round.
Building Retrofits can Increase Climate Resiliency
Building retrofits can include upgrades that protect people and buildings against extreme weather events such as floods and wildfires. An overall goal of a retrofit program should be to strengthen climate resilience to minimize the adverse impacts of extreme weather events and support recovery from those events.
In areas prone to floods, backflow valves can be installed in basement drains to prevent water backup through sewers. This helps prevent flooded basements and the potential exposure to mould, which can aggravate asthma and other respiratory conditions. Where appropriate, fire resistant roofing materials can be used to help protect people and property from wildfires. Such measures can help avert adverse health impacts, costs, disruption and mental health stresses that can result from climate change-related property damage.13
By retrofitting homes to decrease their vulnerability to floods, wildfires, heat and cold, we can reduce the health risks and costs associated with these extreme events. By reducing energy use, retrofits can cut energy bills and leave people with more money to spend on healthy food, clothing and other necessities.14
Building Retrofits can Reduce Social Inequities
A number of groups within Canada – such as lower-income populations, newcomers, racial minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and people with pre-existing health conditions – experience higher rates of illness and premature deaths because of social disadvantages.15
By retrofitting homes to decrease their vulnerability to floods, wildfires, heat and cold, we can reduce the health risks and costs associated with these extreme events. By reducing energy use, retrofits can cut energy bills and leave people with more money to spend on healthy food, clothing and other necessities.
Social inequities can also be reduced by prioritizing lower-income households and housing for retrofit funding and ensuring that grants are of sufficient size to support the retrofits required. In addition, programs that strategically target people from disadvantaged populations for training in the field of building retrofits can help reduce social inequities in communities across the country.16
Building Retrofits can Reduce Air Pollution
Air pollution continues to be a significant source of illness, chronic disease and premature deaths in Canada. Approximately 15,300 people die prematurely each year from conditions such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a result of air pollution.17
Buildings that are heated by fossil, fuels (such as oil and natural gas) can release significant quantities of pollution into the air.18 Torrie has calculated that a program of extensive retrofits could reduce emissions of air pollutants from buildings by as much as 45% by 2030.19
Building Retrofits can Create Jobs and Save People Money
The investments proposed by Torrie could create 3 million person-years of employment up to 2030 and save homeowners an estimated $12.5 billion in residential energy costs each year by 2030.20 Because a retrofit program could be launched relatively quickly, the economic benefits could be realized in the short term and could contribute to Canada’s economic recovery. Retrofits also stimulate demand for related goods and services and cultivate local markets for green materials and technologies.
Prepared by Kim Perrotta, MHSc, CHASE Executive Director, December 2021
Adapted from the Investing in Building Retrofits to Create Healthy, Green and Just Communities. – developed by CHASE with the CPHA and the OPHA in Feb. 2021.
[1] Torrie R, Bak C, Heaps T. 2020. Building Back Better with a Bold Green Recovery. Synthesis Report, p 21.
[2] International Energy Agency. 2018. Energy Efficiency Potential in Canada to 2050. Paris.
[3] Torrie R, Bak C, Heaps T. 2020. p.21
[4] Torrie R, Bak C, Heaps T. 2020. p.23
[5] Bush, E. and Lemmen, D.S., eds. 2019. Canada’s Changing Climate Report, Government of Canada. p. 5.
[6] Gasparrini A. et al. 2015 Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study. The Lancet.
[7] World Health Organization. (n.d.). Heat and Health. Protecting health from rising temperatures and extreme heat.
[8] World Health Organization. (n.d.). Heat and Health. Protecting health from rising temperatures and extreme heat.
[9] Watts N, et al. The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises. Lancet 2020. as cited by the 2020 Lancet Countdown Policy Report for Canada
[10] Whitmore-Williams, CS. 2017. Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica.
[11] Macfarlane R, Perrotta, K. 2019. Module 5: Climate Change Solutions with Immediate Health Benefits. Kim Perrotta (Ed). Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. 240 p. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
[12] Mee Carol. 2019. Module 7: Preparing for Climate Change in our Communities. Kim Perrotta (Ed). Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. 240 p. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
[13] Public Health Agency of Canada, Pan-Canadian Public Health Network, Statistics Canada, and the Canadian Institute of Health Information. 2018. Key Health Inequalities in Canada report/Pan-Canadian Health Inequalities Data Tool.
[14] Macfarlane R, Perrotta, K. 2019. Op. cit.
[15] See Torrie et al. p. 21
[16] See, for example, Winnipeg’s BUILD program, a social enterprise focused on building renovation, that trains unemployed workers who have little experience in the formal labour market.
[17] Health Canada. 2021. Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/2021-health-effects-indoor-air-pollution.html
[18] World Green Building Council. Air quality in the built environment. https://worldgbc.org/clean-air-buildings/causes
[19] Torrie et al. p. 21.
[20) Torrie et al. p. 21.