Overview:

Summary: Window AC units reject heat to the outside and can increase outdoor temperatures. Evaluating and setting a threshhold for buildings' maximum waste heat can help reduce warming emissions.

Implementation: Establish a maximum allowable building waste heat. For buildings that exceed caps, owners can be required to retrofit the building to improve ventilation or install heat recovery systems.

Considerations for Use: Building owners that do not meet allowable waste heat requirements can be pointed towards resources for retrofitting and other building improvements.

• Policy Levers:
  
  
  MandateMandates are government regulations that require stakeholders to meet standards through building codes, ordinances, zoning policies, or other regulatory tools.
• Trigger Points:
  
  
  City planning processesIncludes city initiatives such as the development of climate action plan, pathway to zero-energy, master plan, transit plan, energy mapping etc.
  Introducing new or updated zoning/codesIncludes codes, zoning requirements or by-laws pertaining to urban planning and building construction activity.
  No-regrets actions (low cost/low effort but substantial benefit)Interventions that are relatively low-cost and low effort (in terms of requisite dependencies) but have substantial environmental and/or social benefits.
• Intervention Type:
  Buildings and Built Form
• Sectors:
  Buildings

Impact:

• Target Beneficiaries:
  Residents
• Phase of Impact:
  Risk reduction and mitigation
• Metrics:
  Energy use by area, building, use, etc.

Implementation:

• Intervention Scale:
  City
• Authority and Governance:
  City government
• Implementation Timeline:
  Medium-term (3-9 Years)
• Implementation Stakeholders:
  City government, Industry, Private developers, Property owners and managers
• Funding Sources:
  private investment
• Capacity to Act:
  High

Benefits:

• Cost-Benefit:
  Low
• Public Good:
  N/A
• GHG Reduction:
  Medium
• Co-benefits (Climate/Environmental):
  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Co-benefits (Social):
  Save on utilities