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ARTICLE · 08 OCTOBER 2026

From Projects To Scale: Six Takeaways On Financing Building Decarbonization

Gowling WLG
Gowling WLG
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Gowling WLG

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Gowling WLG's Energy Innovator Roundtable explored how infrastructure finance can transform building decarbonization from isolated projects into scalable investments. Industry experts from infrastructure, lending, and building sectors identified six critical strategies for structuring bankable projects, from evaluating complete investment economics to addressing institutional conservatism in the building power sector.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Jakob Wenzel
Jakob Wenzel
Thomas Timmins
Thomas Timmins
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On September 9, 2026, Gowling WLG hosted the latest installment of its Energy Innovator Roundtable series, in collaboration with Mott MacDonald and the International Project Finance Association (IPFA). The roundtable brought together experts from the infrastructure, lending and building decarbonization sectors. Participants discussed how infrastructure finance can help move building decarbonization from individual projects to investment at scale. Held under the Chatham House Rule, the discussion generated six key takeaways.

1. Start with the complete investment case.

Building decarbonization should be evaluated on its complete investment economics—not simply its upfront cost.

The relevant analysis considers both the capital required and the value the investment is expected to generate, including energy and other operating-cost savings, available incentives, applicable clean-economy investment tax credits (ITCs) and other project-specific economic benefits. Lower-carbon projects

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