Executive Summary

Canada’s existing housing stock is composed of approximately 8 million dwellings which range in vintage from nearly new to a few hundred years in age.  Likewise, their energy performance and associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions vary dramatically with some existing houses displaying performance levels exceeding those of contemporary structures while others contain barely any insulation, airtightness measures or modern mechanical systems.

The project described in this report was initiated by NAIMA Canada to calculate the potential benefits of selective improvements to insulation levels in Canada’s existing housing stock.  Using energy audit data, supplied by Natural Resources Canada, from approximately 634,000 houses, estimates were made of the number of “under-insulated” houses in each province and territory, as well as the six largest cities.

In addition, a detailed analysis was conducted to estimate the quantity of thermal insulation which would be required to upgrade the existing housing stock to levels approaching (although not equal to) contemporary standards.  The metric used to express the quantity of required insulation was the “Retrofit Potential” (RP), defined as the area of a building component to be insulated multiplied by the R-value necessary to upgrade it to the appropriate level.  The Retrofit Potential’s units are ft² • R (and the metric equivalent m² • RSI).  The RP was calculated for five, major building components: ceilings with attics, ceilings without attics, exterior walls, basement walls and basement headers.

Finally, estimates were made of the energy savings and reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions which would be achieved if the full Retrofit Potential were realized.

Key Findings Include:

• The amount of insulation (i.e. RP) required to upgrade Canada’s existing housing stock to levels approaching contemporary standards was 323,854 million ft² R (5,300 million m² • RSI).
• The four largest provinces (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta) contain 88% of Canada’s total Retrofit Potential.
• Of the five building components studied, ceilings with attics represent 49% of the total Retrofit Potential.
• The annual energy savings which would be achieved if the full Retrofit Potential are:
  • 3.10 billion m³ of natural gas
  • 12.3 billion kWh of electricity
  • 742 million litres of fuel oil
• The annual reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions which would be achieved if the full Retrofit Potential were realized across the country is 4.26 million tonnes/yr.
• The volume of (uncompressed) mineral fibre loose fill insulation (at R-2.70/inch), required to upgrade houses with under-insulated ceilings with attics was 4,854 million ft³ (137 million m³).

Summaries of the Retrofit Potential, energy savings and reductions in Greenhouse Gas emissions are provided below.

Retrofit Potential (RP) in Canada