THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay wants to know what kinds of home energy efficiency improvements homeowners might be interested in getting some assistance with in the coming years.
It's conducting an online survey and holding meetings with the public to help it design a proposed loan program for retrofitting residences.
"That would include things like upgrading insulation, and possibly things like adding heat pumps," said Danielle Thom, the city's climate action specialist.
The consultation process is part of the design study stage of a project that underwent a feasibility study two years ago.
It concluded there is significant potential to reduce energy use and emissions in the city through a home retrofit program, which would help the city reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
One finding was that bungalow-style homes built around 1960 with a basement and no central air conditioning could see their greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 84 per cent with energy-efficiency measures.
Household energy use is responsible for about 18 per cent of the city's total emissions.
Thom said this stage of the research will attempt to learn about "the kind of loan that people would be comfortable with tapping into, and then the amounts and the payback times. We're actually getting into the nitty-gritty of the program. We're asking some more specific questions than we have on our previous surveys."
The survey will also provide an anonymous profile of participants, including the age and income groups they fall into, whether their homes have been retrofitted in the past, and whether they have previously tapped into federal or provincial incentive programs.
"We really want people's input. We want to provide a loan that would be accessible for people to use, and we really want to make people's lives more comfortable in their homes, and hear how we can help to do that," Thom said.
The online survey will close on Jan. 31, 2025.
In-person public engagement sessions begin Dec. 13 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm at Goods & Co. at 251 Red River Rd., with others to follow on Dec. 14 at the Thunder Bay Country Market on the CLE grounds, and on Jan. 18 at Intercity Shopping Centre.
