Quebec will announce measures to improve energy efficiency in buildings

Deep Sky chief executive Fred Lalonde, left, announces initiatives to combat climate change as Quebec Economic Development Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon and Environment Minister Benoit Charette, right, look on during a news conference, Thursday, Nov.16, 2023 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Quebec is about to announce measures to improve the energy efficiency of homes.

Environment Minister Benoit Charrette confirmed at a news scrum on Thursday that "in the next few days and weeks, we will be able to confirm major advances in this area."

Alongside him, Minister for the Economy, Energy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon admitted that he was very interested in the research firm Dunsky's study, which found that improving the airtightness of older homes represents a potential saving of 11 to 15 terawatt hours (TWh), or the equivalent of two and a half times the output of the La Romaine complex.

The Dunsky study, carried out on behalf of the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l'habitation du Québec (APCHQ), points out that rural homes built before 1960 alone represent a potential gain of 5.8 TWh.

ESTABLISHING PROGRAMS

"When we look at the potential in terms of terawatts/hour, if I look at the housing stock of houses built before 1960, when we look at the consumption in gigajoules of those houses, it's triple that of the new houses built," said Fitzgibbon. "It's clear that, as a government, we need to establish programs in the light of this."

The investment plan recently presented by Hydro-Québec president and CEO Michael Sabia provides for a meagre 3.8 TWh in energy efficiency and focuses first and foremost on the installation of new heat pumps, the efficiency of which has greatly improved in recent years. Thus, it's a long way from the 11-15 TWh that the Dunsky study calls a "deposit" that could be made available by improving airtightness alone.

"So much the better if we can beat Mr. Sabia's targets, which are very ambitious by the way, but definitely, as a government, the building code, both for renovations and for new construction, we absolutely must have programs for this," said Fitzgibbon.

'AUDACIOUS' BUT COSTLY PROGRAMS

Fitzgibbon remained cautious when asked to specify his intentions, but he seems intrigued by the data presented to him by the Quebec construction and housing professionals association, the APCHQ.

"I don't want to answer today about the means we're going to use, but clearly, recognizing the incredible potential we have in Quebec's housing stock, which is an ageing stock, it's clear that as a government -- and with Mr. Charette, when we look at the targets we've set ourselves, we're going to have to do something," he said. "Charette, when we look at the climate objectives, which are to reduce greenhouse gases by 37.5 per cent by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050 -- we're going to need programs that are perhaps bolder."

On the other hand, he pointed out that the question of costs, in a context of tightening budgets, remains sensitive.

"We now need to find together the financial means to encourage because when we renovate, we should clearly have a program that should be more incentive-based," he said. "We haven't analyzed the costs yet. I wouldn't be able to tell you how much we're talking about for the park to be rejuvenated, but it's probably several hundred million."

The two ministers met journalists at the end of a press conference announcing a $25 million investment by Investissement Québec in Deep Sky, a firm that will soon be launching carbon capture and sequestration projects.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 16, 2023.