ecoENERGY Retrofit – Small and Medium Organizations

Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan's) program ecoENERGY Retrofit – Small and Medium Organizations provides financial incentives to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to industry and public institutions to help them implement energy saving projects that reduce energy-related greenhouse gases and air pollution, thereby contributing to a cleaner environment for all Canadians.

Eligibility Criteria

Organizations
An organization can apply for a retrofit incentive once over a 12 month period. To be eligible for assistance, an industrial organization must:

• have fewer than 500 employees;
• not be in a sector targeted for GHG emission regulations per the Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions. Targeted sectors include: aluminium, cement, chemicals, lime, pulp and paper, wood products, steel smelting, base metal smelting, electricity generation (from combustion), upstream oils and gas, petroleum refining, oil sands, natural gas pipelines;
• be registered with NRCan's Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC) leadership network.

Eligible Activities

Projects
To be eligible for an incentive, businesses must apply to NRCan for funding before incurring any costs related to the project. To be eligible for funding, a retrofit project must:

• involve capital expenditures that modify or upgrade an existing building, equipment/system or process;
• result in a measurable and verifiable reduction of energy use;
• have a net simple payback period of more than one year.

All energy figures must be provided in gigajoules. To convert various sources of energy, such as kilowatt hours of electricity or cubic meters of natural gas, you may use NRCan's Gigajoule and Energy Conversion Calculator.

Organizations that are eligible for retrofit assistance must demonstrate the technical and financial feasibility of their projects in their applications.

To help businesses determine the eligibility of their project(s), NRCan provides a sample list of eligible and ineligible projects.

Summary

NRCan's ecoENERGY Retrofit - Small and Medium Organizations provides a financial incentive of up to 25% of project costs to a maximum of $50 000 per application and $250 000 per corporate entity to help small and medium industrial organizations implement energy-saving projects.

This program helps businesses:

• implement retrofit projects that generate annual energy savings and pay for themselves through reduced expenditures on utilities, such as energy, water and waste;
• establish a baseline against which to compare future improvements;
• help kick-start their energy management strategy.

Selecting a Qualified Retrofit Contractor
The estimated energy savings from a retrofit project MUST be certified by either a professional engineer or a certified engineering technologist. Businesses may use their in-house expertise or may select an external consultant of their choice to certify and/or complete the application. To help businesses locate a contractor, NRCan has developed the Energy Management Services Directory.

Application Process
The approval period for this program is April 1^st, 2007 to March 31^st , 2011, subject to the availability of funds. Applications can be submitted at any time through the year. To obtain further details on the program and submit a request for an application, you may visit the program's Web site (see More Information).

New Brunswick Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Building Division
Office of Energy Efficiency
Natural Resources Canada
Observatory #3
580 Booth Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0E4
Telephone: 613-992-3245
Fax: 613-947-4121
Toll-free (information): 1-877-360-5500
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-996-4397
E-mail: webmaster@nrcan.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/com/index-eng.php