saveONenergy - Hydro Ottawa

Retrofit Program Overview

Install Energy-Efficient Measures and Earn up to 50% of your Project Costs

For many business owners, capital costs prove to be the primary barrier to investing and participating in a retrofit. The RETROFIT PROGRAM's incentives tackle this barrier head on, making it possible for you to install and benefit from newer, more energy-efficient solutions.

Focus your Energy-Efficiency Decisions on your Building Retrofits

Becoming more energy-efficient is paying off for commercial organizations looking to respond to growing market pressures and increased global competition. Operating as efficiently as possible will help improve your bottom line. Even small steps can make a measurable difference.

Participate and Save

The RETROFIT PROGRAM provides substantial financial incentives for replacing existing equipment with high efficiency equipment and for installing new control systems that will improve the efficiency of your operational procedures and processes.

Incentive Levels

Hydro Ottawa can assist you to assess and offer financial incentives to implement energy-efficiency measures for your building, equipment and operational practices that could lower your electricity costs almost immediately in some cases and last far into the future in others.

Three Tracks to Conserve

There are three ways to start conserving energy with this program:

1. PRESCRIPTIVE Track

2. ENGINEERED Track

3. CUSTOM Track

Up to 50% of project costs are available.

PRESCRIPTIVE Track

The PRESCRIPTIVE track gives you the ease of selecting from a defined list of end-use measures that come with a corresponding per-unit incentive. Examples include upgrades to lighting, motors, unitary A/C, etc. If your project involves upgrading existing equipment, the incentive amount would depend on the type, efficiency and quantity of equipment you install.

ENGINEERED Track

The ENGINEERED track consists of a series of preset calculation worksheets that help you estimate reductions in peak demand and/or electricity consumption that apply to the installation of more energy-efficient equipment or solutions.

Based on the reductions in peak demand and/or electricity consumption, the worksheet will calculate the incentive amount. The following engineered worksheets are available online through the RETROFIT PROGRAM application process or from Hydro Ottawa:

Commercial Interior Lighting Engineering Worksheet
Commercial High Bay Lighting Engineering Worksheet
Commercial Directional Lighting Engineering Worksheet
Unitary A/C Engineering Worksheet (ie. rooftop units and split systems)
Variable Speed Drive on Fan Engineering Worksheet
Variable Speed Drive on Pump Engineering Worksheet
Compressed Air Engineering Worksheet

CUSTOM Track

The CUSTOM track is available for more complex or innovative solutions not covered in the PRESCRIPTIVE or ENGINEERED track, and not on the pre-defined list. Technology, equipment and system improvements are evaluated on their demand and energy-performance. Incentives are paid after installation, and once the savings have been measured and verified.

The incentives are based on the information you provide specific to your project, including:

A description of the facility baseline electricity use.
A description of the equipment being replaced.
A description of the new equipment.
Disposal costs of old equipment.
The operating schedule (days per week, hours per day, time of day).
The cost of the new equipment.

Available Incentives:

	Prescriptive	Engineered	Custom
Lighting	Per unit incentives	The greater of either, $400/kW of demand savings or $0.05/kWh of first year electricity savings	The greater of either, $400/kW of demand savings or $0.05/kWh of first year electricity savings
Non-lighting including lighting controls	Per unit incentives	The greater of either, $800/kW or $0.10/kWh of first year electricity savings	The greater of either, $800/kW or $0.10/kWh of first year electricity savings
Multi-Family: tenant education	$200/kW of the estimated demand savings, and to a maximun of 10% of the incentives paid for the equipment replacement project.
Social housing	Advance 50% of eligible financial incentive funding before project starts and after project approval by Hydro Ottawa. Gap grant funding: top up eligible financial incentive to 50% of project cost.

To participate, your project must be pre-approved. Small projects must be worth a minimum prescriptive incentive of a $100. For the ENGINEERED or CUSTOM tracks, your project must have an estimated demand reduction of 1 kW or first-year annual energy savings of 2,000 kWh. Projects must deliver energy savings for at least 48 months.

Eligibility requirements

The RETROFIT PROGRAM for Commercial or Institutional Facilities is open to owners or lessees* of:

Commercial spaces or buildings, such as offices, retail and grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and warehouses.
Institutional buildings, including hospitals, universities, municipal halls and arenas.

Multi-family buildings, such as apartments (including low income and social housing) or condominiums.
Agricultural facilities, including dairy, swine or poultry farms, greenhouses and nurseries.

*If you lease, you must have the owner’s consent or authorization

There are also some minimum project sizes and terms around project start dates. Also if you are an owner of social and assisted housing, and your building is smaller in size, you may be eligible for other incentives. Contact Hydro Ottawa to find out more.

Eligible Program Measures

Eligible measures under the program are those that provide sustainable, measurable and verifiable reductions in peak electricity demand and/or electricity consumption and below are some examples:

Lighting retrofits
Lighting controls
HVAC redesign
Chiller replacement
Variable speed drives
Improvement of thermal performance of a building envelope through measures such as increased insulation, installation of high performance windows and frames, low emissive window glazing or low emissive roof barriers.

Start Saving Sooner

Getting your project underway without delay is our priority. We'll work with you to make quick work of the pre-approval process so your project can move ahead as soon as possible.

Whether your project is Prescriptive, Engineered or Custom, you'll find plenty of available incentives. The RETROFIT PROGRAM provides incentives for the improvement of such important systems as lighting, motors, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and improvements in your building envelope - areas where today’s organizations stand to benefit the most.

Getting Started:

Steps to saving energy and improving your bottom line

First, you must register online and provide your business details and the name and contact information of suppliers to the project. If you require assistance with the registration process please contact Hydro Ottawa.

PRESCRIPTIVE Track:

Complete the PRESCRIPTIVE track online applications prior to the start of the project. If you need help with the online application contact Hydro Ottawa.
The project is submitted for approval to Hydro Ottawa, based on the information provided through the registration.
Hydro Ottawa approves your project, based on your documentation.
Following completion of the project, Hydro Ottawa may visit the building, to validate the installation of the equipment specified on the Prescriptive Approach worksheets and forms.
To confirm completion, return to the website to upload all invoices and to request the incentive payments for which you’re eligible.

ENGINEERED and CUSTOM Tracks:

Complete the ENGINEERED or CUSTOM track online applications & worksheets, and provide other project-related information requested by the registration system, prior to the start of the project. Information requested may include product details, calculations and assumptions, as well as a project measurement and verification plan (for CUSTOM projects expecting an incentive greater than $25,000).
Hydro Ottawa approves your project, based on your documentation or on a site visit designed to verify the baseline electricity consumption data.
Once the work is completed, you, or your contractor or supplier must return to this website to submit any additional information or documentation required, along with the project invoices.
Hydro Ottawa may visit the building to verify the installation of the equipment or control systems. This may include validation of the project’s resulting savings assessment.
Hydro Ottawa approves project savings and the resulting incentive payment, based on your project invoices and the assessed demand reduction or energy savings.
Hydro Ottawa remits payment to your organization the total incentive amount, as appropriate.

If you are not sure where to begin there are incentives available to conduct electricity focused audits through the AUDIT FUNDING program that will help you identify the potential energy savings.

Please click here to find all the relevant RETROFIT PROGRAM documents. Relevant Documents

Contact Us Today:

Visit your Hydro Ottawa to learn more information about this program. Other information, perspectives from experts and clients or to apply online is available for access now.

Get started

View Program Info Sheet
Helps contractors and clients understand incentives.

Questions?

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Or contact a program officer at 613.738.5499 ext. 144.