Home Retrofits

About Home Retrofits

If you own a home – and even more so if you own an older home – one of the most important things you can do to take climate action is to move closer towards a net-zero home – by getting a home retrofit.

Whether you are able to make many changes to reduce your home’s carbon footprint or just one, and whether you do them quickly or over a number of years, your efforts will have a big impact. The key is to get going, get support, get a good plan in place, and do as much as you can.

The thought of doing a green home retrofit can be daunting for many of us – but never fear, the Pocket Change Project has your back! Whether you are preparing to replace a furnace, air conditioner or gas appliance; are planning a renovation and would like to reduce your emissions and increase your comfort as well; or you would like to make your house net-zero or even net-negative, we can help.

Be a Changemaker!

Changemakers are Pocket homeowners undertaking retrofits using our retrofit coordination service. Together, our Changemakers are helping to transform the Pocket into a cleaner, greener community for everyone, and getting us closer to a net-zero neighbourhood. This is so important because in the City of Toronto, fossil fuel use in residential buildings is the single largest contributor (58%) to our city’s greenhouse gas emissions, and of those, 56% are from the residential sector, the majority of them from single family homes. In other words, our homes are major greenhouse gas emitters. This also means our homes can be used to take very meaningful climate action. The power to make an significant contribution to climate action is in our hands!

Our retrofit coordination service provides you with a concrete plan for your retrofit (called a Retrofit Roadmap) and personalized, expert advice to help guide you through the process and move ahead with confidence. It also provides the support of a neighbourhood Changemaker coordinator, who will stay in touch, help you address any issues, and convene regular opportunities to meet other Changemakers. The Retrofit Roadmap and community-based support model are key to why our retrofit coordination service has been so successful and attracted so much attention to date. We can't say enough about the Retrofit Roadmap, which flattens your learning curve considerably, reduces a lot of uncertainty and guesswork, gives you a solid, step-by-step plan to follow, and ensures you have the most greenhouse gas-reducing and cost-effective retrofit strategy for your money, among other benefits - our FAQ page goes into greater detail.

To learn more, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. To get started with our retrofit coordination service or ask a question, email [email protected].

Let's hear it for our Changemakers! Here is some of what they have accomplished so far.

Pocket Changemakers: Progress as of November 2023

30

total Changemakers

28

Retrofit Roadmaps done

15

electric heat pumps installed, the most significant step towards reducing a home's emissions

13

homes with significant improvements to their building envelopes, with new widow and insulation upgrades

4

homes where solar panels have been installed, producing clean electricity

6

retrofits complete

3

homes completely off "natural" gas

 

Note: A handful of Changemakers began their retrofits before September 2021; the rest began since then.

Get More Support

There are lots of ways you can get helpful information and support from us with your home retrofit projects, including our:

  • retrofit coordination service for Changemakers - see our FAQ
  • past webinars on retrofit topics, available for you to watch anytime
  • upcoming events - check out our events calendar (more for Winter/Spring 2023 coming soon)
  • regular posts on the Pocket's Facebook group  (you must live in The Pocket to join this group) OR our posts on the Toronto-wide Home Retrofit Forum Facebook group (where we are active)
  • The Retrofit Stories section of our website 
  • monthly e-newsletter, which shares upcoming events and other helpful news and tips (sign up here).

You can also look at the other information we have in this section of our website about Funding and Financing, Air Source Heat Pumps, and Rooftop Solar. Other helpful resources:

 

   

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