Energy and Carbon Reduction

Our team has led a number of projects with an emphasis on sustainability and taking a holistic and evidence-driven approach to achieve a more sustainable project. Our team leverages materials, methods, and the integration of mechanical and building envelope repair recommendations to help clients achieve optimal building performance.

+12M ekWh

energy saved annually through our projects

+1.75M kg

CO2 saved annually through our projects

The Pretium Way

Pretium has extensive Energy and Carbon Reduction experience, helping clients to not only meet, but exceed their energy and carbon goals. Our team is composed of members of both the Passive House Institute and PHIUS with multiple certified consultants on staff. These team members have firsthand knowledge of what it takes to meet even the most stringent energy and carbon goals effectively and efficiently.

Not only is our team full of experts, but we also have a strong ability to partner with external industry experts to create a well-rounded design team, ensuring each team’s expertise best serves the project at hand.

What We Do

ASHRAE Energy Audits (Levels I, II, and III)

Building Enclosure Commissioning

Deep Energy Retrofit

Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking

Energy Modelling

Passive House and EnerPHit

Zero Carbon

Life Cycle Assessment/Embodied Carbon

Our team meticulously evaluates all the energy-consuming systems within a building to identify opportunities for cost, energy, and GHG savings. Our audits are based on whole-building energy models, which we prepare, making them eligible for most incentive programs. These audits are designed to help our clients unlock the full potential of a building’s energy performance.

As stated in ASTM E2813-2012, “Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) is a process that begins with the establishment of the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and endeavors to ensure that the exterior enclosure and those elements intended to provide environmental separation within a building or structure meet or exceed the expectations of the Owner.” 

The ideal BECx project engages a third-party Building Enclosure Commissioning Agent (BECxA) who is involved in the project from pre-design through occupancy and operations. 

Pretium’s extensive experience in the evaluation and testing of new and existing buildings allows the team to provide new building commissioning and retro-commissioning services for the building envelope. In partnership with our network of industry experts, we can also provide this service for Whole Building Commissioning.

Our team is passionate about deep energy retrofits and decarbonization roadmaps. We utilize an integrative project delivery methodology with in-house envelope specialists, building performance modelers, engineers and project managers with proficiency in energy performance of new and existing buildings. Our goal is to ensure a holistic approach to whole-building analysis to help reduce energy use and carbon footprint by 40 to 50%, compared to the baseline energy and carbon intensity. We approach retrofit projects by first evaluating and gaining a detailed understanding of your existing utility data and operations, while providing energy modeling to propose energy conservation measures to meet your needs.  

Pretium understands the importance of evaluating and retrofitting existing buildings, with buildings in Canada generating 25% of the world’s carbon emissions and new construction projects accounting for at least 40% of the raw materials consumed in North America. Retrofits of existing buildings play a critical part in meeting Canada’s 2030 carbon targets and 2050 decarbonization goals.

In 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Energy (ENERGY) passed the “Green Energy Act, 2009” which includes Ontario Regulation 20/17: Ontario’s Reporting of Energy Consumption and Water Use. The regulation introduces the Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) program for large private sector buildings and aims to help owners and managers recognize that reporting and benchmarking energy and water consumption can help them better understand their building performance.

Our team has worked on Energy and Water Reporting for individual buildings and entire portfolios of commercial and residential building clients. We take care of the mandatory reporting by collecting and assessing utility data, reporting through the Energy Star Portfolio Manager and preparing the mandatory EWRB compliance reports. Those participating in a voluntary reporting program have seen savings in the order of two to five percent annually on electricity consumption and upwards of 10% on gas consumption. 

Buildings larger than 100,000 sq.ft. are required to have their data verified by an accredited or certified professional.

Energy and hygrothermal modeling programs are quantitative tools that help designers evaluate both the technical and financial viability of a proposed building envelope retrofit or assembly for a new building project. The information is used to identify optimal solutions, avoid costly mistakes, and support qualitative findings based on our technical knowledge of building science and construction. 

Our team is trained in over a dozen different software platforms and we are able to review project goals, whether they be performance or certification based, and select the best tool for the job. 

Modelling individual assemblies allows us to analyze the thermal and hygrothermal performance and compare various options to determine the most appropriate solutions with respect to type, positioning and thickness of thermal insulation, air barriers, vapour retarders or barriers, and water resistive barriers. This information can be fed into whole building modelling, as appropriate. When modeling the whole building, we can compare potential energy conservation measures, allowing us to work with our clients to develop a roadmap to achieving their energy and carbon goals.

Passive House is considered the most rigorous voluntary energy-based standard in the design and construction industry. EnerPHit allows the requirements of Passive House to be applied to existing buildings, with allowances made for existing structure and design. 

Key features of both Passive House and EnerPHit include exceptionally high levels of insulation, well-insulated window frames and glazing, thermal bridge free design and construction, an airtight building envelope and ventilation with highly efficient heat or energy recovery. These features combine to create buildings that are proven to achieve up to a 90% reduction in space heating and cooling energy, have excellent indoor environmental quality, and can maintain a habitable interior temperature for weeks without power. 

Pretium has a number of staff Certified through the Passive House Institute and PHIUS and has provided consulting services for a variety of building types seeking certification, or simply to achieve near Passive House performance levels.

Our team is experienced in reducing operation and embodied carbon and has a number of specialists that can assist in meeting Zero Carbon Design, whether for certification or to align with the client’s initiatives. We apply a climate lens to all endeavors and have the expertise to assist our clients with meeting their 2030 and 2050 goals. Whether your team is looking to meet CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Design standard, LEEDv4.1, Toronto Green Standard or requires an energy and carbon strategy report to reduce operational and embodied carbon, we can assist you to meet and set achievable goals

Our team has deep experience in Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment, with Life Cycle Assessment specialists that have years of expertise in assessing and providing impactful material suggestions. This value-add service allows the design team to learn more about operation carbon savings and the embodied carbon impact of the proposed materials that will be embedded for the life span of a building. Pretium assists with the Embodied Carbon Reporting, design suggestions for structure and envelope and even embodied carbon impact of mechanical refrigerants.

Whether you are looking to comply with code requirements or targeting a more stringent voluntary energy standard, Pretium has staff trained across a variety of energy modelling platforms.
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With our foundation firmly rooted in restoring existing buildings, we provide the expertise needed to undertake complex deep energy retrofits.
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From townhouses to high-rises and everything in between, our team offers comprehensive energy auditing services, tailored to help you chart a path towards your energy and carbon reduction goals.
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Get in touch with a member of our team of experts to learn more about how Pretium can help you plan a path towards meeting your energy and carbon goals.

Your Project, Our Expertise – Let’s Make It Happen

Our expert team is here to help you achieve your goals.