Existing Building Commissioning program

• The applicant must be the owner, operator, or manager of a commercial or institutional building in Ontario.
• The building must have at least 12 months of consecutive energy data.
• The building must have annual electricity consumption of at least 750,000 kWh (excluding energy used by industrial and manufacturing processes).
• The building must be connected to, or behind the meter of, an electricity customer connected to the IESO-controlled grid or a distribution system.
• The project must include eligible operational measures (e.g., occupant behavioural measures, set point and scheduling optimization, air and water balancing, other operations and maintenance changes, or equipment repairs/minor replacements).

Who is eligible?

• Owners, operators, or managers of commercial buildings
• Owners, operators, or managers of institutional buildings
• Commissioning providers in Ontario (to sign up as providers under the program)

Who is not eligible

• Industrial and manufacturing facilities seeking incentives for energy used by industrial/manufacturing processes (this energy use is excluded from the program’s consumption threshold).
• Organizations that have undertaken a building commissioning exercise within the last two years.
• Organizations participating in a building accreditation system that requires EBCx as a pre-requisite.
• Organizations that do not own, operate, or manage a commercial or institutional building (i.e., do not have a qualifying building type for this program).
• Organizations with facilities not connected to (or behind the meter of) an electricity customer connected to the IESO-controlled grid or a distribution system.

Eligible expenses

• Fees paid to an accredited commissioning provider to investigate the facility, prepare the investigation report, and draft the commissioning plan (up to 75% of these investigation costs).
• Costs to implement energy-efficiency operational and maintenance improvements identified in the commissioning plan (covered through pay-for-performance incentives based on verified electricity savings).
• Costs for commissioning-provider training to maintain and monitor systems for one year (covered through pay-for-performance incentives based on persisting, verified electricity savings).

Eligible geographic areas

• Ontario (commercial and institutional buildings connected to, or behind the meter of, an electricity customer connected to the IESO-controlled grid or a distribution system).

• Approval of the measures proposed by the IESO (all measures are subject to review and approval).
• Confirmation and verification of energy savings achieved (incentives based on confirmed kWh savings).
• Maintenance of energy savings over a 12-month period for the persistence phase (savings calculated and verified after 12 months).

• Incentives are tied to three phases (Investigation, Implementation, Persistence) and are only available to participants who complete each phase.
• Building commissioning is performed by an accredited/authorized commissioning provider who identifies energy conservation measures and supports implementation.
• The program includes training to help participants maintain and monitor building systems and integrate ongoing commissioning into standard management practices.
• Energy savings are calculated and verified after a 12-month period for the Persistence phase.