The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Toronto Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) Program has doubled incentives for all non-lighting projects. Effective immediately, the new incentive rates are: $800 per kilowatt of on-peak demand savings or $0.10 per kilowatt-hour annual consumption savings for non-lighting projects; $400 per kilowatt of on-peak demand savings or $0.05 per kilowatt-hour annual consumption savings for lighting projects; $250 per cooling ton (for ground source cooling projects). The incentives remain capped at 40 per cent of the total eligible project costs. Office, retail, and hospitality properties, 25,000 square feet or greater in the 416 telephone exchange are eligible for the BOMA CDM Program.
The BOMA CDM Program is a cooperative arrangement between BOMA Toronto and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). The Program provides financial incentives to both property owners and tenants towards the completion of electricity conservation projects. What do the new incentive levels mean for building owners? “Before, a chiller replacement project costing $600,000, and saving 200 kilowatts of energy, would have received an $80,000 incentive payment,” said Wayne Proulx, director of the CDM Program. “Now, the payout would be $160,000, or 27 per cent of the capital costs.”
Even modest projects will benefit from the new incentive rates. Previously, a window-film project that reduces a building’s cooling load, costing $100,000 and saving 54 kilowatts of energy, would have received $21,600. Now the incentive payment would be $40,000.
The increase in incentives is designed to reflect the value of conservation to the electricity system and to motivate building owners, managers and tenants to undertake major electricity saving projects in 2010.
Project applications received after Nov. 1, 2009 will be fulfilled at the new incentive levels. There will also be enhancements to facilitation assistance, and an increased number of program training sessions will be offered. Program applications can be reviewed and approved in less than two working days.