Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan And (Near) Net Zero Homes

The government of Ontario recently revealed its five-year Climate Change Action Plan ("CCAP"). Under the recently enacted Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act, 2016 (the "Climate Change Act"), the Ontario government is required to prepare a climate change action plan that details actions designed to modify behavior to enable Ontario to achieve its targets for the reduction of GHG emissions relative to 1990 levels:

• 15% reduction by the end of 2020
• 37% reduction by the end of 2030
• 80% reduction by the end of 2050

To help achieve the emission reduction goal, the CCAP includes a number of measures targeted at modifying the family home, including adopting the concept of the "near net zero carbon home" ("NZ home") and encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles.