Springfield Heritage Housing Receives $25,000 in Funding for Dugald Place Energy Efficiency Plans
For Immediate Release - Dugald, Manitoba – December 2, 2021 – The Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) are investing $25,000 in energy efficiency planning for the RM of Springfield’s Dugald Place Assisted Living Residence and Aquatic & Wellness Centre, currently in design and development in Dugald, Manitoba.
FCM’s Sustainable Affordable Housing (SAH) initiative, created in partnership with the Government of Canada, helps housing providers retrofit existing units for higher energy performance or build new affordable housing to net-zero standards, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and supporting municipalities in achieving their broader climate change plan objectives.
“Municipalities are on the front lines of climate change and climate action,” said Springfield Mayor Tiffany Fell, “and the RM of Springfield is committed to doing its part for the environment. By working toward net-zero energy ready standards,” she added, “Dugald Place will be environmentally sustainable and will benefit from lower utility and operating costs for years to come, resulting in affordable housing options for Springfield seniors.”
Springfield Heritage Housing’s application targeted energy efficiency for its 54-unit Dugald Place affordable housing new construction. The funding permitted SHHI to engage expert consultants to conduct energy studies and analyses to identify which building systems will provide the highest energy savings while mitigating green house gas emissions. SHHI invested over $40,000 to do this important work, of which $25,000 is covered by the SAH Funding.
The Dugald Place study identified energy savings of approximately 50% with a reduction of GHG output of nearly 80%. As a next step, SHHI will be applying to FCM’s Green Municipal Fund for a major capital grant to enable construction of Dugald Place to include energy efficiencies in the overall design, such as geothermal heat and solar panels over the outdoor parking area.
The Dugald Place residence was the only Manitoba project to receive SAH funding from a recent national announcement of an over $1.7M investment in 16 plans, studies and pilot projects to support the building or retrofitting of 16,753 units in communities across Canada.
“Making Canada’s existing building stock more energy-efficient will get us a long way to our climate targets, and our homes are an important part of that. Our government is pleased to help municipalities across Canada identify and capitalize on opportunities to lower emissions from homes in their regions.”
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources
“Communities of all sizes are showing climate leadership at a time when we need it most. The Green Municipal Fund empowers them to get results on the ground, this is why this announcement is so important. We deliver results with our federal partners – helping communities like the Regional Municipality of Springfield tackle affordable housing challenges, create jobs and build a greener, more sustainable country. Together, we’re on the path to net-zero.”
Joanne Vanderheyden, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Government of Canada endowed the $300-million Sustainable Affordable Housing initiative as part of a $950-million expansion of FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) in Budget 2019. The SAH initiative assists municipal providers, not-for-profit organizations, or housing cooperatives with grants, loans, and capacity-building resources to support ambitious energy-efficiency standards in the construction and retrofitting of affordable housing. In its first year of funding, in 2020-2021, the SAH initiative approved funding for 33 projects, representing more than 3,000 units.
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For further information, please contact:
Tiffany Fell, Mayor, RM of Springfield, 204-444-3321; tfell@springfield.ca
FCM Media Relations, 613-907-6395, media@fcm.ca