Better Condos Boot Camp: it works!

Better Condos Boot Camp (BCBC) is a 1-day in-person workshop that dramatically improves the knowledge (115% improvement) and attitudes (85% improvement) of condo decision-makers who need to be on board for deep-energy retrofits and decarbonization. Condo managers, board members, and owners attend as a team and get hands-on training and expert guidance. Together they learn how the current repair and replace mentality is inadequate for meeting future climate and building performance requirements, and the financial and fiduciary risks of inaction. Firsthand accounts      of successful retrofits/decarbonization, resources and connections, have them leaving the bootcamp fit and equipped with three actionable next steps for their own condo.

Toronto is faced with the need for deep energy retrofitting and decarbonization on a truly staggering scale. Over half of Toronto’s GHG emissions come from buildings and, if the city is to meet its net-zero goal by 2040, nearly every building in the city must be retrofitted. A full 29% of those building-related emissions can be traced back to multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), Condominiums, which represent a substantial subset of MURBs, present unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to getting those vital retrofits done. While the technologies, funding, and expertise to enable deep energy retrofits exist, several barriers hinder the widespread adoption of these measures.
Condominiums involve a diverse set of decision-makers, including unit owners, board members, condominium managers, and building operators, each with varying interests, priorities, and levels of influence. These complex decision-making structures can make it difficult to achieve consensus on what shade of grey the new carpet in the mail room should be, let alone significant investments like deep energy retrofits.

These diverse decision-makers have similarly varied expertise in, and awareness of, the subject of climate change and their building’s role in fighting to. Many have yet to be informed how climate change will impact their building and future regulations, or do not understand how to consider a building holistically within a changed and changing climate. Often, they haven’t had a chance to learn how to ask for or evaluate professional advice beyond meeting existing building codes.
This knowledge gap, combined with outdated condominium regulations, results in “like for like” standard repair and replacement schedules. After all, when you need that many people with varying levels of engagement, expertise, and responsibility to sign off any anything, it’s easy to settle for patching up. Swapping outdated and inefficient building elements with more of the same instead of taking the leap (and responsibility) of finding long-term sustainable solutions becomes the default.
The Better Condos Boot Camp (BCBC) was developed by Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) as a pilot program to break this cycle and address these challenges head-on.

To do this, the one-day in-person workshop engages and educates teams of condo decision-makers. By bringing together condo owners, board members, condominium managers, and trusted experts, the program aims to elevate the collective understanding of deep energy retrofits and decarbonization within the condominium context.

The “team” part is vital. During their many previous deep energy retrofit workshops, the SBC team often observed a pattern of “Finger Pointing” where responsibility for doing “more than what’s actually required” is passed around between the various decision makers. The nature of condo ownership and management can give each individual a solid excuse to say “it’s not up to me” instead of facing issues head-on.

To address this, the boot camp brings these decision makers together to make climate and building performance requirements a challenge to be meet together rather than a hot potato to pass around.
Through this direct engagement BCBC helps shift mindsets away from “Repair and Replace” to “”Future Forward.” The program encourages decision-makers to adopt a holistic, long-term perspective when considering building maintenance and upgrades, emphasizing the benefits of planning for future conditions and sustainability. SBC designed the workshop to wrap up with each condo team setting three concrete, actionable next steps towards achieving net zero, ready to be put into practice at their specific building.

The program also ensures condo decision makers aren’t left out in the cold once the bootcamp (and its hot, sustainably sourced coffee) have come and gone. Participants are equipped with knowledge of (and connections to) the many available resources too many condos leave on the table. This includes programs available at the City of Toronto, Toronto Hydro, The Atmospheric Fund, and professional sustainability experts.

Getting these teams together wasn’t always easy. Condo owners and condo board members sometimes took the initiative to bring their condo teams to the workshop only to be frustrated mid-registration. Often, they found they lacked some information about their condo BCBC needed to tailor their workshop experience and secure sponsorships with the City of Toronto and Save on Energy. Recognizing this issue SBC reworked the registration process to shorten it and place more of the information collection burden on staff.

Putting together teams of all three key decision maker groups was also a challenge. It took someone with a lot of interest and energy to convince others to sign up with them. To make it easier for passionate condo stakeholders to participate, SBC expanded the program to include teams made of just one condo manager and board member or non-board owner.
Ultimately all this hard work paid off. An independent researcher hired by SBC found an 86% increase in awareness of Toronto’s Climate Goals among participants. 100% of participants moved beyond uncertainty about the definition of a deep energy retrofit, with a 950% increase in recognition of its potential to achieve net-zero emissions.

There was also a 70% increased awareness of upcoming Building Energy Performance Standards and a 115% increased awareness and knowledge of the resources available for planning deep energy retrofits to help meet those standards.

An impressive 97% of respondents felt the impact of a Deep Energy Retrofit was positive, 0% felt it was negative and 87% of participants reporting being likely or very likely to support a deep energy retrofit. After attending BCBC, 85% of participants had an improved attitude towards deep energy retrofits.

The research also turned up further opportunities to assist and educate decision makers, with 61% of respondents needing cost or financing information before they could fully commit.
All this was achieved while BCBC was only a small pilot program. Now, SBC knows this model works and are currently requesting funding to expand the program with an audacious, essential goal of reaching every condominium in the Toronto market in the next 2-3 years.

Beyond the boot camp, SCB is currently working to summarize condominium and strata regulations that either promote or hinder deep energy retrofits and condo decarbonization throughout Canada. They aim to use this research to provide informed recommendations on updating condo/strata laws.
Begun in Toronto, this straightforward and impactful workshop can be easily recreated in other markets with condos or stratas, and, as you might guess from their passion for team-building, SBC would be delighted to collaborate.