Press Release: The ReBuild Initiative Awarded $1.1 Million NSERC Grant

Grant Awarded for University of Victoria Led Initiative to Find Data-driven Retrofit Solutions for Energy-Efficient Buildings

SEATTLE (March 24, 2022): Edo continues its efforts to transform the built environment through collective action. Edo is honored to be a part of the ReBuild Initiative which secured a $1.1 million grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The University of Victoria (UVic) is leading the initiative, which aims to find effective, affordable ways to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions through building retrofits. ReBuild is also funded through more than $1 million in partner contributions from a suite of Canadian organizations.

As part of the ReBuild Initiative, Edo will:

• Develop a grid flexibility scorecard for buildings that will allow users to quickly understand opportunities for providing building flexibility and locationally targeted demand response capacity for the grid.
• Develop a building energy score to help identify and recommend high-value building improvements. It will account for the control processes that could leverage this flexibility in forthcoming smart grids.

Edo will deploy and test the approaches developed at the Spokane EcoDistrict at South Landing using data from the operation of the heating, cooling and electricity systems. The flexibility scorecard will enable utilities to create incentives that promote energy flexibility as a cost-effective non-wires alternative. The building energy score will allow building service providers and facility managers to easily access recommendations for building improvements.

The UVic-led ReBuild initiative is marshalling a wide-ranging partnership of 16 organizations that will share information and develop solutions to help businesses, governments and building owners. To share knowledge, ReBuild partners will form working groups focussed on areas such as residential buildings, commercial buildings, data-driven methods, modelling methods, results analysis, tool development and policy guidance. The initiative will demonstrate new methods for improving existing buildings that make them more energy efficient and resilient, with a lower-carbon intensity, to address climate change. Ultimately, it is expected that the initiative will help guide future policy and regulation for energy retrofitting existing buildings.

“ReBuild brings together an amazing team focused on enabling existing buildings to operate more efficiently,” says Easan Drury, Edo’s director of research and development. “As part of this unique partnership, Edo will develop tools that will make efficiency and demand-response opportunities easier for utilities and building service providers to access and implement.”

Media Contacts

Anne Tolson (Engineering and Computer Science Communications) at 250-812-6309 or [email protected]

Robyn Quinn (University Communications + Marketing) at 250-415-7020 or [email protected]

About the University of Victoria

UVic is one of Canada’s leading research-intensive universities, offering life-changing, hands-on learning experiences to more than 21,000 students on the edge of the spectacular BC coast. As a hub of transformational research, UVic faculty, staff and students make a critical difference on issues that matter to people, places and the planet. UVic consistently publishes a higher proportion of research based on international collaborations than any other university in North America, and our community and organizational partnerships play a key role in generating vital impact, from scientific and business breakthroughs to achievements in culture and creativity. Find out more at uvic.ca. Territory acknowledgement