Sustainable Energy
Richmond Hill promotes sustainable energy use to lower energy consumption and associated costs, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Discover Your Home’s Heat Loss with the MyHEAT Thermal Map
Enbridge Gas and the City are proud to offer you exclusive access to free rooftop thermal imaging, so you can see where your home is losing heat. Visit the link below, enter your address and learn how you can take steps to improve energy efficiency, home comfort and save money.
View a personalized heat loss map and rating of your home
You can also download and print your home report.
Take action - small changes can equal big savings!
By understanding energy use and where heat is escaping from your home, you can prioritize home energy efficiency upgrades like adding insulation, air sealing or other upgrades. Visit the links below for helpful tips and incentive programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
| What is a heat map? |
| A heat map is an aerial thermal infrared image of your rooftop that visually pinpoints where heat may be escaping from your home. Rooftop areas with low heat loss are shown in blue and areas of high heat loss are red. Each house has a unique heat map.
|
| What is a heat loss rating? |
| A heat loss rating is a number between 1 and 10, where 1 indicates low heat loss and 10 is for high heat loss. This rating helps you better understand how much heat is escaping from your home.
|
| Can aerial thermal imaging detect air leaks? |
| Yes, along with insulation gaps, aerial thermal imaging can pinpoint areas of air leakage that contribute to overall building heat loss. |
| How and when was this data collected? |
| Thermal heat loss data was collected using a world-class sensor in February 2024 for homes and buildings within the program area. Data was collected with a plane at night when the outside temperature was right around freezing. The collection method is similar to how Google Maps are created. |
| I've recently made upgrades. Will they be shown in my profile? |
| If the upgrades were made after the collection date of February 2024, the analysis will not capture them. |
| Can MyHEAT see into a house? |
| No, it cannot see into a house. Thermal heat loss does not reveal any personal or private information about a home. Thermal heat loss data is not obtained like an x-ray; sensors are not able to see the contents or the people inside of your home. The data cannot tell if a person is at home and does not see through windows or walls. |
|
I don’t want my home displayed on the MyHEAT platform. How do I opt-out? |
If you would like to opt-out of this program, please visit www.enbridgegas.com/heat-map and click on the opt-out form. The process to opt-out is very simple and easy:
Should you wish to opt back in, please email enbridge@myheat.ca. |
| How long does this program run? |
| Residential homeowners in Richmond Hill, Burlington, Vaughan and Markham will have unlimited online access to their heat loss report until February 28, 2026. |
Home Energy Improvements
An energy-efficiency retrofit involves upgrading features of your home to reduce your energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, and improve comfort and indoor air quality. If you are considering home energy improvements but uncertain about where to start or how to make your home more energy efficient, our Home Energy Retrofit Orientation (HERO) and Sealing Energy Leakages (SEL) workshop recaps can help.
These highlight videos provide explanations and insights on heating/cooling systems, insulation, windows, hot water heating, and air sealing.
Home Energy Improvement Survey
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Home Energy Improvement survey and follow-up interviews! Through this survey the City was able to learn about residents’ knowledge, interest, and experience with home energy improvements. The City will use this information as we continue to develop future programs and initiatives.
View the Home Energy Survey Infographic PDF for a summary of the main survey takeaways and next steps.
Community Energy Initiatives
|
Rebates and Incentives |
|
Explore available federal and provincial rebates through the Home Renovation Savings Program, delivered by Enbridge Gas. Other Enbridge rebate and incentive programs include: Income-eligible households with electric heating can receive a FREE air source heat pump, including installation, through the Save on Energy program, an initiative of the IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator). The Windfall Ecology Centre offers assistance and expertise to help navigate the retrofit process, including rebates. |
| Home energy efficiency tips |
|
The following tips can help you reduce energy use and costs in your home:
Learn more power-saving tips. |
Corporate Energy Management
We're doing our part to save energy, money and the environment by installing energy efficient systems in municipal buildings. We also encourage developers to construct energy-efficient homes and buildings in our community, and to strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders (e.g. Alectra Utilities formerly PowerStream) to promote energy efficiency and conservation at home.
| Annual Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In accordance with Ontario Regulation 25/23 under the Electricity Act, Richmond Hill annually reports and publishes the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of City facilities in the Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions Report.  View the 2023 Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions Report. You can get a paper copy of these reports through the Office of the Clerk, located at: 225 East Beaver Creek Road, Ground Floor |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Five-year Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Electricity Act requires municipalities to develop and publish energy conservation and demand management plans (Corporate Energy Plans) and to update these plans every five years. The City's 2024 plan will guide energy management and net zero carbon/decarbonization efforts over the next 5 years (2024-2029) and continues to take a proactive approach to reducing energy consumption, costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Unlike previous plans, the focus of this plan is shifting to the reduction of GHG emissions to align with the Council approved target of net zero GHG emissions for the City of Richmond Hill by 2050. The plan details projects that will be implemented over the next five years along with the expected energy, costs and GHG reductions. View the 2024-2029 Corporate Energy Plan The hard copy of the Corporate Energy Plan can be obtained from the Energy Section in the Public Works Operations Division at the Operations Centre, 1200 Elgin Mills Road East. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Renewable energy systems |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Richmond Hill demonstrates its commitment to becoming a leader in sustainable energy use by installing renewable energy systems in City buildings. Renewable energy systems installed in City buildings:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Outdoor lights conversion to LED project |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Outdoor lighting in Richmond Hill takes up a large part of our overall energy usage. There are about 16,000 streetlights, 350 parking lot lights and 1,200 park lights in Richmond Hill. Until recently, most of our lights were High Pressure Sodium (HPS) luminaires. In 2019, Richmond Hill converted a majority of its outdoor lights from HPS to energy-efficient Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lights. A total of 11,700 streetlights, 700 park lights and 330 parking lot lights were converted to LEDs to reduce energy consumption, costs and associated GHG emissions. As a result of this conversion, the City is saving $650,000 per year in energy costs. |
ClimateWise Building Challenge |
|
Richmond Hill is proud to participate in the ClimateWise Building Challenge, a York Region-wide, friendly awards and recognition competition created to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve building energy efficiency through collaboration, education, and innovation. This free initiative, run by the ClimateWise Business Network, is open to building owners, property managers, and tenants who want to take climate action. Recognition and achievements will be presented throughout the competition at a regional level. View the Challenge FAQs to learn more. The ClimateWise Business Network also offers free support with Ontario’s Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) program, aimed at increasing efficiency and reducing consumption costs for commercial, industrial or multi-unit residential buildings over 50 000 square feet. Visit windfallcentre.ca/climatewise/benchmarking or call 289-648-4107 for further details. |