Ontario Construction New staff writer
The federal government will contribute $2.4 million to retrofit the TD Futures Cities Centre at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto.
Evergreen, the national non-profit that stewards the site is providing just over $1.5 million to the initiative.
The project is expected to be completed in 2025, transforming a factory into a community studio and exhibition space.
Renovations will reduce the facility’s energy consumption by about 77.7 per cent and greenhouse gas emissions by 1,572 tonnes annually with new rooftop array of solar-thermal panels that will sync with the existing geothermal infrastructure to sustainably power the building.
Federal funding will come from the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program which is now accepting applications for small and medium retrofit projects with eligible costs ranging from $100,000 to $2,999,999.
A second intake, for large retrofit projects and new builds with eligible costs ranging from $3 million to $25 million, opened this week. Eligible applicants include provincial, territorial, and local governments, not-for-profit and Indigenous organizations, as well as applicants who were unsuccessful under previous intakes.
Back in 2010, Evergreen transformed a collection of deteriorating heritage buildings into a global showcase for green design, creating Evergreen Brick Works, Canada’s first large-scale community environmental centre in the heart of Toronto.