Building Improvements

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The Arctic Energy Alliance (AEA) has energy experts dedicated to helping your business, community government or non-profit organization conserve energy and improve its energy efficiency. If you are interested in saving money by reducing the amount of heating fuel, electricity and water used, or want to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, this program is for you. Additionally, businesses can get rebates for completing energy-related building upgrades.

LIMITED FUNDING AVAILABLE

Updated Sept. 27, 2024. We have limited funding available for the rest of the fiscal year. If you are applying for a rebate, we can’t guarantee that you will receive it. Please contact us for more information.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to the requirements of the AEA’s funders, fossil-fuel based heating systems and LED lighting retrofits are no longer eligible for rebates as of April 1, 2024.

What Services Do We Offer?

We offer various services based on the type of organization.

Businesses

  • Education and free advice
  • Building energy audits
  • Rebates

Community Governments

  • Education and free advice
  • Building energy audits
  • Project coordination

Non-profit Organizations

  • Education and free advice

Education and Free Advice

We offer education and free advice to businesses, community governments and non-profits to help you better understand how to save energy and reduce costs. Have a question? Contact us today.

Building Energy Audits: Investigate Ways to Save

For businesses and community governments, we offer two types of energy audit. Both can help you find the best ways to save energy in your building so you can decide which upgrade projects to take on.

How it Works

Desktop (Yardstick) Audits

If you want to investigate potential savings before starting an energy upgrade project, the AEA can analyze your utility bills for free to see where energy savings might be possible. This is called a yardstick energy audit.

You can apply for a yardstick audit using the form at the bottom of this page.

On-site (Targeted) Audits

If you would like to go even further, an AEA energy advisor can then meet with you at your building and audit your building’s heating equipment and controls, ventilation equipment and controls, air leakage, equipment that uses water, and your building’s lighting and lighting controls, and let you know how to get the most energy savings for the least amount of money. You can then use the audit report to help you decide what work you want to do.

  • Businesses: free
  • Community governments: we charge a fee for building energy audits, but you may be eligible for a $15,000 subsidy toward the cost

Rebates for Businesses

The AEA provides rebates of up to $50,000 for energy upgrades to buildings owned by businesses. The rebate amount you receive will be the lower of:

  • 50% of the total eligible costs of your project
  • A calculation based on the amount of money and greenhouses gases that your project will save (see the program guidelines for more information)

AEA staff can help you figure out what your rebate will be before you spend any money. Rebate cheques for eligible expenses are issued by the AEA after the building upgrades are completed, installations confirmed and copies of invoices and receipts have been received by the AEA. 

Rebates are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to pre-approval and availability of funds.

You must complete your project within 4 months of receiving pre-approval for your rebate.

How It Works

First Steps

We encourage you to contact us to discuss your potential energy-saving project and the rebates you can receive from the AEA.

This conversation will help you determine whether to go through the process of having a desktop energy audit done or the simpler process of submitting receipts. A desktop audit can help you decide if a free on-site energy audit is warranted. You will then complete your paperwork and submit it to us.

Investigating Savings

If you want to investigate potential savings before starting an energy upgrade project, the AEA can conduct a building energy audit for you.

Cost Estimates

Once you’ve decided what kind of building upgrades you want:

  • Get an estimate of how much the upgrades will cost and work with your energy advisor to fill in a rebate pre-approval form. (We can only guarantee you a rebate if your application has been pre-approved before you start the work.)
  • We will let you know what rebate you can expect once the work is done.

Start Your Project

  • Complete your project within 4 months of being pre-approved.
  • Submit final, paid invoices to the AEA within 1 month of completing your project.

Receive Rebates

Once you send the AEA all your receipts and additional paperwork, we can calculate your rebate. One year after you’ve completed your energy upgrades, we can provide, free of charge, a follow-up yardstick energy audit so that you realize your energy and financial savings. If you already know what energy upgrades you want to undertake, how much they will cost and your anticipated energy, water and money savings, get in touch with us to pre-approve the building energy upgrades, then send us a copy of all your receipts to process your rebate.

How to Apply

LIMITED FUNDING AVAILABLE

Updated Sept. 27, 2024. We have limited funding available for the rest of the fiscal year. If you are applying for a rebate, we can’t guarantee that you will receive it. Please contact us for more information.

Apply Online – Business Rebates

Once your project is pre-approved, you complete it within 4 months. Final paid invoices must be submitted to the AEA within 1 month of finishing your project. If you need an extension on either of these timelines, please contact us before the deadline.
Examples include an employer or contractor.

Project details

Check all that apply.

Documentation

Attach a copy of any relevant quotes or other documentation.
Allowed file types: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff

Acknowledgement and consent

Your participation in the Commercial Energy Conservation and Efficiency Program (the “Program”) requires the Arctic Energy Alliance (“AEA”) to collect information from you, including your personal information. The AEA will collect your information, including your personal information, for the purpose of delivering the Program. All personal information collected from you by AEA is protected by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c 5.

The Program is delivered by the AEA pursuant to the terms of the contribution agreement between the AEA and the Government of the Northwest Territories (“GNWT”) (the “Contribution Agreement”). Under the terms of the Contribution Agreement, the AEA is obligated to disclose your information, including your personal information, to the GNWT or the Government of Canada (“Canada”), or both, from time-to-time for the purpose of reporting and the public release of Program statistical data. The collection and disclosure of your information, including your personal information, by the GNWT and Canada is subject to applicable territorial and federal privacy legislation, including the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, SNWT 1994, c 20, and Privacy Act, RSC 1985, c P-21.

By checking the box above, you acknowledge that you have read this notice and that you consent to the collection of your information, including your personal information, by AEA and the disclosure of said information by AEA to the GNWT or Canada or both for the purpose of administering the Program. You further consent to the collection and disclosure of your information, including your personal information, by the GNWT and Canada for the purpose of reporting and the public release of Program statistical data.

Submit your application

Apply Online – Desktop Building Energy Audit

If you would like an audit of more than one building, please complete a separate application for each building.

Building information

For example, “3,000 sq. ft.” Do not include sections of the building that are not connected to heating or cooling systems.
Check all that apply

Heating systems

Check all that apply
Check all that apply

Domestic hot water

Check all that apply
Check all that apply

Ventilation

Check all that apply

Utility billing history

The following information is required to complete your yardstick energy audit. If you don’t have this information available now, you can email it to us later.
Must show volumes delivered and delivery dates. Please combine all documents into one file. If you can’t combine them into one file, please email them to us. Allowed file types: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg
Must show consumption and billing periods. Please combine all documents into one file. If you can’t combine them into one file, please email them to us. Allowed file types: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg
Must show consumption and billing periods. Please combine all documents into one file. If you can’t combine them into one file, please email them to us. Allowed file types: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg

Submit your application

Supporting Material

Businesses Application Guidelines

Community Governments Application Guidelines – Building Energy Audits

Community Governments Application Guidelines – Project Coordination

Application Forms

Businesses Application Form

Desktop Energy Audit Application

Additional Programs