Unleashing the power of efficiency
Introduction
It
all
started
with
a
jail
farm
Sale of Langstaff Jail Farm provided for $23mil
endowment established in 1991 to help improve
Toronto’s air quality and address climate change
About TAF
Arm’s length agency of the
City of Toronto, established
in 1991, governed by its
own Board of Directors
Mandate: to advance
solutions to climate change
and air pollution
Supported by an
endowment fund of $23
million
Growing recognition
that municipalities
should to play a
leading role in climate
change abatement
Municipal approach
offers the opportunity
to tailor programs to
local needs and
strengths
A net contributor to Toronto
World’s
first
city‐based
climate
agency
TAF’s Strengths
Clear
role
and
niche
•  Focused – unique mandate to advance
solutions
•  Nimble – streamlined decision-making
process, small staff, many partners
•  Independently funded – not supported by
the tax base, leverage asset to raise
external revenue
•  Investment powers -- use asset to finance
mandate-related projects
•  Bridge – bet. municipality and the broader
community
Strategic Directions 2011-2014
Guiding
principles
A focus on doubling
and then re-doubling energy
efficiency
•  Catalytic
•  Bold, first-mover
•  Strategic, highimpact
•  Engaging and
engaged
•  Scale-up
Toronto’s air emissions profile
Understanding
where
to
focus
•  Target largest (and growing) emission sources:
natural gas (used for space and water heating) and
transportation fuels
•  Electricity “de-carbonizing” with coal phase out, but
need to integrate with other energy efficiency
measures
How TAF works
Turning
good
ideas
into
prac@cal
solu@ons
Core programs
Incuba@ng
Climate
Solu@ons
APPROACH: Initiate and manage
early stage activity on two to three
carefully selected projects that have
significant local emissions reduction
potential for the City of Toronto.
TARGET: Securing necessary
support to design and implement
prototypes and transfer proven
solutions to scale-up partners.
TAF’s Priority Areas
FleetWise
Accelerating hybrid & electric
vehicle solutions
LightSavers
advancing low-carbon lighting
SolarCity
building local solar generation
capacity
TowerWise
improving energy efficiency in
high-rise homes
Incubating climate solutions
Transporta@on
opportuni@es
•  Electric vehicles in fleets
•  Streamlining the
movement of local goods
•  Better transportation
options for the weekend
•  Supporting work-fromhome policies
Incubating climate solutions
Natural
gas
opportuni@es
•  Multi-unit residential
energy efficiency
•  Single family residential
energy efficiency
•  Solar thermal,
geothermal, and air-to-air
heating and cooling
Core
Programs
Mobilizing
Social
Capital
APPROACH: Significantly
increase the amount of
public and policy support for
the creation and deployment
of high-impact emission
reduction initiatives.
TARGET: Doubling the
number of projects receiving
TAF support
Mobilizing social capital
Possible
social
innova@on
ini@a@ves
•  Supportive municipal policy
•  Innovative granting and
collaboration with other
funders
•  Urban climate solutions
innovation hub
•  ClimateSpark online
challenges
Core programs
Mobilizing
Financial
Capital
APPROACH: Significantly
increase the amount of public
and private capital available
for the deployment of
market-transforming emission
reduction initiatives.
TARGET: A tenfold increase
in the assets influenced by
TAF and creation of new
external resources.
Mobilizing financial capital
Opportuni@es
for
financial
innova@on
•  Demonstrating and promoting
green investing
•  Development of new energy
efficiency funds
•  Building the low-carbon
business case
•  Creating and testing new
financial products that remove
barriers to capital investment
Mobilizing financial capital
Create
and
pilot
new
financial
products
•  Green Condo Loan – developer
borrows incremental cost of
efficiency measures, TAF re-paid
by condo corporation
•  Step Loan – encourage multimeasure efficiency by staggering
loan releases and repayments
•  Efficiency shortfall insurance --in
development
•  MASH sector revolving loan fund,
eg: Better Building Partnership,
Infrastructure Ontario
•  Specialized EE fund
Hand off & scale-up
Leveraging
program
design
and
incuba@on
At early stage of incubation, seek/identify partners with
scale-up capacity, ie: to implement climate programs at
a regional level, including:
•  City of Toronto divisions and agencies
•  Other government agencies
•  Non-profit ‘social ventures’ and community groups
•  Utilities
•  Finance institutions
Partnerships our key asset
Building
organiza@onal
capacity
TAF punches above its weight
because we work with partners:
•  Facilitating inter-divisional, multisectoral collaborations
•  Attracting interest and funding
from provincial, national and
international spheres
•  Tapping expert external and
advisory resources
Collaborations add value
Working
with
a
mul@tude
of
organiza@ons
Building on a legacy of success
Re‐affirming
Toronto’s
climate
leadership
Building on 20 years of results and
working with City, community and
private-sector partners, TAF can realize
the multiple benefits of the power of
efficiency for Toronto.
www.toronto.ca/taf