OCH is the City of Ottawa's community housing provider and one of the largest social housing landlords in Canada. Its portfolio consists largely of concrete apartment towers with gas-fired central plant, operated on long-cycle capital plans for residents onlow and fixed incomes.
In buildings of this type,electrification is generally deferred until equipment fails and is thenreplaced with like-for-like gas equipment. The incremental cost of choosing aheat pump instead is the barrier, and it is the gap carbon revenue is intendedto close.
A multi-unit residential building of approximately 70,900 sq ft in Ottawa's K1N postal district. Physical work began 31 October 2024; final commissioning completed 8 April2026.
Measures installed:
Estimated annual reductions, self-reported at listing: 100–250 tCO₂e per year.
The retrofit completed withinthe twenty-four month window in which BERS permits retroactive certification ofreductions, so monitoring can draw on performance the building has already delivered.
Donald Towers, a multi-unitresidential building of approximately 151,000 sq ft in Ottawa's K1K postal district. Physical work is anticipated to begin 31 December 2026.
Measures planned:
Annual reductions range completeby a professional engineer estimate: 100–250 tCO₂e per year.
Both projects were listed with a self-declared financial disincentive: OCH's position is that neither proceeds on its own economics. This is common for electrification in Ontario, where a comparatively low-carbon grid means fuel switching reduces emissions substantially while producing little or no utility cost saving.
Under BERS, that self-declaration is a screening answer only. The binding test is an NPV Financial Additionality Test at the Preliminary Ex-Ante BERU Assessment, requiring net present value below zero without carbon credit revenue, on audited inputs, with standardized sensitivity analysis across capital cost, energy cost savings and discount rate.
Ontoly issues Building Emissions Reduction Units ex-post, from actual metered whole-building performance, verified annually by an accredited third-party Verification Body across aten-year crediting period.
An independent Professiona lEngineer produces a performance forecast, which Ontoly treats as a fixed input to the ex-ante estimate. Once metered data is available, quantification is re-run on that data. The forecast is not carried forward into issuance.
Both buildings are occupied social housing, which shapes what these projects deliver alongside emissions reductions:
Both projects hold Listed status on the Ontoly Registry under BERS Version 1.2. Specifically:
Both listings are visible on the Ontoly Portal to registered Buyer Accounts, where buyers can review the full listing reports and contact the Building Representative directly.
Opening an Ontoly Buyers Portal account is freeand carries no obligation to transact.
