ABOUT

The Sherwood Forrest Greener Homes Project is a new community group of neighbours helping neighbours to decarbonize and electrify their homes, thereby lowering our collective carbon footprints. We are modelling our group after the very successful Pocket Change Project.

Why is this important?

  • Fifty four percent (54%) of greenhouse gas emissions in Mississauga is from buildings, including our homes.

  • To reduce our use of fossil fuels like natural gas (which are causing climate change and extreme weather), we need to increase the energy efficiency of our homes and ultimately electrify our space and water heating with Ontario’s low carbon electricity.

  • Greener home retrofits have the potential to increase the comfort, resilience, and value of your home and, in many cases, can reduce your utility bills.

OUR APPROACH

Our plan is to hold regular (likely quarterly) neighbourhood events, including educational meetings to help homeowners learn about retrofits like heat pumps, solar panels, induction stoves, and battery storage. Each event would include an educational speaker, networking with other neighbours, and having FUN along the way.

To reduce the barriers and occasional frustration that can come with greening your home, our project aims to pair project members with a retrofit coach, i.e., neighbour who has recently completed a similar retrofit that can direct you to helpful resources and incentives.

MEMBER Benefits

  • Networking and peer-to-peer support

  • Social gatherings (in neighbour’s house or backyard)

  • Support of a retrofit coach

  • Help in locating energy auditors, government incentives and loans, and retrofit specialists to help you plan and execute your retrofit journey

  • Potential to increase the comfort, resilience, and value of your home

  • Take meaningful climate action and help others to do the same

  • Potential for bulk purchases to reduce costs

THANKS TO ALL WHO JOINED US AT our KICK-OFF EVENT!

Thank you to all the neighbours who came out to learn about the Sherwood Forrest Greener Homes Project. We had some great conversations, learned about home energy efficiency and ways to limit our use of natural gas, and enjoyed some great snacks - included some very green cupcakes!

Special thanks to Laurie Dickson from Peel’s Centre for Community Energy Transformation (CCET). She told us about their FREE energy coaching service, energy efficiency resources on their website, and available financial incentives. Check out their website to learn more.

We also want to express our gratitude to the Sherwood Forrest Residents Association for helping us promote the event.

Look for more events later this fall to learn how to green your home ! Learn from our journey and start yours today!

NEED MORE INFORMATION OR WANT TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST?

Contact Carol Aziz at carolaziz2015@gmail.com or 647-378-2968

SHERWOOD FORREST GREENER HOMES CASE STUDIES

Carol Aziz - 2934 Hammond Rd. - COLD CLIMATE AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP, ELECTRIC WATER HEATER, INDUCTION STOVE, 100% ELecTRIC HOME, 2019 NISSAN LEAF

Over the last several years, we have been on a quest to electrify our home and our ride. Our main motivation is to reduce our carbon emissions.

After conducting an energy audit, adding additional attic insulation, upgrading our windows, and sealing air leaks, we updated our electrical panel to 200 amp and sealed our ducts using Aeroseal to improve air flow within the home.

In June 2022, we installed a Mitsubishi Zuba centrally ducted cold climate air source heat pump, which does both heating (down in -30C, with electrical resistance backup heat - so far we have not needed it!) and cooling. In addition to a $5600 grant from the now closed Greener Homes Program, we also receive an annual discount on our home insurance. As you can see from the photo, I am definitely pumped about heat pumps!

We have since electrified our fireplace, and our last step was to replace our gas range with an induction stove in July 2024 and disconnect the gas line. Our home is now 100% electric!

We also have a 2019 Leaf (electric, 40 kWh battery, max range 250 km) and charge at home with a 240V/32 amp receptacle in our garage. The cost to charge our EV is about a dollar, if charged overnight with ultralow overnight electricity rates (2.4 cents per kWh). But most importantly, the ride is so much more fun! We found Plug N Drive to be an excellent resource when shopping for an electric vehicle. Currently, federal incentives of up to $5,000 are available for EVs.

Got questions? Contact Carol at carolaziz2015@gmail.com

Pierre ROy - 1939 Lincoln Green Way- MITS AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP (HYBRID), HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER, 2023 KIA NIRO aND MUCH MORE!

Over the past year, we have been working on upgrading our home’s systems to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, save money on utilities, and increase our overall thermal comfort.

We started by having a registered energy advisor complete a comprehensive energy assessment of our home, which provided us with specific recommendations to meet our goals.

Our first order of business was to reduce heat loss by insulating the floor of a crawl space, air sealing around light fixtures, and replacing our drafty 30-year-old front door.

Next, we replaced our air conditioner with an air-source heat pump (Mits Air 2.5T ) that works alongside our existing high-efficiency natural gas furnace. Our smart thermostat automatically switches from the heat pump to the gas furnace when the outdoor temperature drops below -12 ˚C.

We then replaced our 12-year-old natural gas water heater with a Rheem Proterra hybrid heat pump water heater. This unit uses a heat pump to move heat from the basement into the hot water. The tank also has electrical heaters to reheat the water faster if needed.

Last summer, we also purchased a 2023 Kia Niro electric vehicle. The car features a 65-kWh battery and a maximum range of 407 km. It has been a fantastic vehicle so far, costing under $1 to drive 100 km when charged at home overnight. It was immediately the “family favourite” vehicle to drive.

To understand the savings from our retrofits, we are monitoring our utility bills and power usage with smart power meters. Our February Enbridge bill was only $35, while the heat pump added about $80 to our hydro bill. As a comparison, our Enbridge bill last February (2023) was $148, and $226 in February 2022.

Got questions? Contact Pierre at pierre.roy10@gmail.com

Altaf Chaudhary- 1887 Deer’s Wold - Mits AIR AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMP (HYBRID)

In 2022, we installed EIFS ( Exterior Insulation and Finish System) for the whole house. The house’s insulation and energy efficiency were tremendously improved after the application.

In January 2024, we installed a MitsAir cold climate heat pump with Cased A – Coils It’s a 5 ton unit to serve a 4200 sq. foot area and works with our existing gas furnace as a hybrid system.

We also applied to the Canada Greener Homes Loan and received the full amount for the installed MitsAir system at the house. The procedure is quite simple and you can get up to $40K as an interest free loan, payable in 10 years on a monthly basis.

What’s next? We are currently looking into solar panels and so far received one quote to fully offset the house’s electricity requirements ( approx. cost is $25K ).

Got questions? Contact Altaf at achaudhary@duron.ca

We are actively looking for more neighbourhood case studies. If you have recently installed a heat pump, heat pump water heater, solar panels, or battery storage, please send a short paragraph on your green retrofit to carolaziz2015@gmail.com.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Centre for Community Energy Transformation, Region of Peel - free guidance and coaching on how to implement energy-saving home retrofits, DIY energy saving tips, and information on incentives.

Toronto Home Retrofits - Learn what communities in Toronto are doing to retrofit their homes! Their community model is based on the Pocket Change Project. Ottawa has a similar initiative called Electrify613.

Energy Neighbour - is another service helping Torontonians to retrofit their homes. Has lots of helpful information on heat pumps and incentives.

Homes to Zero - Find out your home’s climate score for free.  Also offer net zero assessments and plans for a fee.

Ontario Clean Air Alliance - Provides information and calculators to assess savings from air source heat pumps

TRCA Step Program - Provides information on air source heat pumps and cost-effectiveness of hybrid heat pump systems.

Energy Auditors - see list on Centre for Community Energy Transformation website

Contractors - Spring Home Heating and Cooling, McKinnon, Switch Heat Pumps

Climate Impact Fund acknowledges that the land on which we operate is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples inhabited and cared for this land, and continue to do so today.

We are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land, and by doing so, give our respect to its first inhabitants.