As a result of this project, Colwood has now earned a place as one of Canada’s leading communities in energy conservation and renewable energy.
Solar Colwood was a community-wide project that engaged residents of Colwood BC in renewable energy and energy saving projects in their homes and local community. This project was developed in response to findings published by Colwood’s Task Force on Energy and Emissions which showed that, in order for the community to reach its Climate Action Charter commitments, existing buildings in the community would need to be retrofitted with renewable energy and energy saving upgrades.
The four-year project was completed in 2015 and resulted in over 500 residents (3.11% of the population) achieving over 1000 improvements in their community. These improvements included installing solar hot water systems, ductless split heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations, solar photovoltaics, and smart home monitoring systems. The City also provided free energy and water savings kits and discounted EnerGuide home evaluations to enable home and business owners to access incentives for upgrades from various incentive programs. Colwood became a Canadian leader in per capita solar retrofits and the City of Colwood redefined itself as a regional and provincial leader in energy conservation and renewable energy.
Solar Colwood was supported through the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Fund. Additional funding and technical support was contributed by Solar Colwood’s other partners including: The T’Sou-ke First Nation, Royal Roads University, Horizon Technologies, SolarBC, League Assets, the Province of British Columbia, Camosun College Pipe Trades Department, Horizon Technologies, B.C. Hydro, Fortis BC, Ministries of the Province of British Columbia, SolarBC, The Canadian Solar Cities Project, The WestShore Chamber of Commerce, Vancity’s Bright Ideas, The New Car Dealers Association of BC, The Capital Regional District.