LC3 Case Study
Setting the Stage
In Nova Scotia, climate action and commitments are strong at both the provincial level and at municipal orders of government. Halifax’s climate plan, HalifACT: Acting on Climate Together is considered one of the most ambitious climate plans in Canada.
A number of funding programs are available in the Province for climate action, including the long-existing Low Carbon Communities (LCC) program, funding through the cap and trade program, and a newly established Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund which will provide $15M in climate action funding over three years. In addition, there are a number of programs available to support clean transportation, including provincial rebates for new and used electric vehicles and ebikes.
HCi3’s Grant Program
During the development of HCi3’s first Grant Program, it became clear that the program would need to differentiate from other existing local funding programs. Finding HCi3’s niche proved to be very important.
HCI3’s original Grant Guidelines were created in the fall of 2021 and included the following focus areas for grant funding: emission reductions from buildings, low-carbon transportation and/or decarbonization aligning with the largest areas of greenhouse gas emissions in Halifax Regional Municipality.
Through conversations with HCi3’s Advisory Group members and key stakeholders and partners, it was recognized that more work had to be done to differentiate HCi3’s funding program from the Provincial programs, in particular the LCC program that provided funding in the same areas of buildings, clean transportation and decarbonization.
HCi3 held several stakeholder meetings, and it became evident that there was support for HCi3 framing the Grant Program around challenge statements to address specific gap areas rather than the three-broad focus areas. The goal of the challenge statement approach was that the grant applications would target gaps in the market with a focus on GHG reductions at scale, community benefits, equity and partnerships
The Challenge Statements were developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including HCi3’s Advisory Group, the Province, HRM, EfficiencyOne, Nova Scotia Power, Clean Foundation, as well as other LC3 Centres.
The Outcome: Six Challenge Statements
HCi3’s Grant Program successfully launched in February 2022 with a total of $540,000 of funding available, including a $100,000 contribution from the Province. The call for expressions of interest and full applications was launched around the following challenge statements:
Potential projects must tackle greenhouse gas emission reductions through addressing at least one of the below challenge statements.
1- Scaling deep energy retrofits using new retrofit models such as modular or prefabricated technologies.
2- Deploying electric mobility in communities or organizations that are underserved, through the shared economy (i.e., access to shared electric vehicles and/or charging stations).
3- Developing electric vehicle ready plans to guide comprehensive installations for charging in multi-unit residential building and/or those buildings or dwellings without access to a driveway or garage.
4- Building community led renewable energy solutions, such as shared solar and mobilizing resources. Ensuring marginalized and under-served communities benefit from these types of projects.
5- Integrating solar systems, storage, and micro-grids to recognize shared benefits such as shaving peak demand and increasing resiliency in buildings.
6- Community-led climate action initiatives. Projects and initiatives should be led by community, based on the needs and interests within a community around climate action. Projects can include engagement, awareness, and skills/capacity development, ensuring community partnerships and connections are formed to share resources, training, knowledge, and solutions.
2022 Grant Recipients:
In June 2022, HCi3 was pleased to announce grant funding for 11 organizations. The projects receiving funding spanned across the six challenge statements in alignment with HCi3’s grant evaluation scorecard. Details on the 2022 Grant Recipients and Project Descriptions can be found on HCi3’s website.