Item - 2023.TA4.11

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:  

1. Approved the following grants to be funded jointly from the Canada, Ontario, and Toronto endowments except where otherwise indicated: 

a. $189,000 over 36 months (from the Canada and Toronto endowments only) to Buildings Ontario Transformation Hub to promote research and engagement on green development standards and related mechanisms for decarbonizing the building stock in Ontario, subject to the following conditions:

· Confirmation of participation of relevant non-profit partners in the project.

· Submission of a revised workplan and budget reflecting the removal of Strategy 3 and related activities, and engagement of non-profit partners in the project’s activities.

b. $100,000 over 12 months to Create Climate Equity to build the capacity of overburdened communities on climate change and enable their participation in retrofit programs, subject to the following conditions:

· The community engagement effort be focused on pathways for achieving deep and net-zero retrofits, including through fuel switching/electrification.

· Development and implementation of a strategy to engage program delivery agencies and share insights and recommended program design improvements to support the targeted communities in achieving deep retrofit objectives.

· Toronto Atmospheric Fund funding be stage-gated, with the release of the final 25 percent of Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s contribution contingent on Create Climate Equity securing at least $200,000 in additional funding from external sources for the proposed project.

c. $40,000 over 12 months to the Toronto District School Board to assess the feasibility of its parking lots for delivering Electrical Vehicle charging access to local communities.

d. $110,000 over 18 months (from the Canada and Toronto endowments only) to Volta Research for research and engagement on addressing barriers to electrification of Part 9 buildings and support future code adoption and development processes, subject to the following conditions:

· Development and implementation of a knowledge mobilization strategy focused on ensuring the project’s recommendations are considered by key decision-makers.

· Development and implementation of a plan for engaging non-profit and advocacy organizations in the project, including covering their reasonable costs of participation with funding provided by Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

e. $225,000 over 36 months to Building Up to expand their social enterprise operations by adding an insulation and draft-proofing service and delivering training support for workers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, subject to the following condition:

· Initial and subsequent funding disbursements be conditional on satisfactory due diligence of the proposed social venture by Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s Impact Investing team, and progress against milestones.

f. $72,130 over 24 months to Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to develop a free home heat loss estimator web tool to help contractors with the sizing of air source heat pumps and scale up their deployment.

g. $299,248 over 15 months to Optiwatt for a distributed energy resource (DER) demonstration project focused on managed Electrical Vehicle charging in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, as described in Confidential Attachments 2 and 3 to the report (November 7, 2023) from the Vice President, Impact Investing, Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

2. Declined three grant requests with a total value of $566,890. These are summarized in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (November 7, 2023) from the Vice President, Impact Investing, Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

3. Approved the allocation of $181,500 over three months (first quarter of 2024) to support Toronto Atmospheric Fund programs as outlined below and to be funded from Canada, Ontario, and Toronto endowments except where otherwise indicated:

· Electrification of transportation: $4,750 to support the expansion of Electrical Vehicle charging in priority areas.

· Decarbonizing Ontario’s electricity system: $23,500 to support the region’s transition to a net-zero grid.

· Retrofit Accelerator: $66,250 to build the market for deep retrofits by collaborating with leading building operators and industry solutions providers to deliver faster and cost-effective deep retrofits.

· Impact Investing: $28,750 to support investments in impact-first projects/companies and maintain management and compliance of Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s investment portfolio.

· Climate Policy: $12,500 (from Canada and Toronto endowments only) to be an effective and influential advocate for urban climate policy with all three levels of government.

· Grants: $13,000 to build the internal and community capacity needed to support effective design and delivery of Toronto Atmospheric Fund-funded initiatives.

· Research and Innovation: $23,750 to deliver critical insights and evaluation to support advancement of climate and social priorities, and to provide research leadership and support to Toronto Atmospheric Fund teams.

· Communications and Campaigns: $9,000 to increase Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s audience reach while maintaining engagement levels towards all focus area priorities.

4. Directed that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachments 1, 2 and 3 to the report (November 7, 2023) from the Vice President, Impact Investing, Toronto Atmospheric Fund remain confidential in their entirety, as they contain financial information supplied in confidence to the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to significantly prejudice the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund recessed its public meeting to meet in closed session to consider the item as it pertains to commercial information, supplied in confidence to the Toronto Atmospheric Fund which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization.

This report recommends approval of seven grants with a combined value of $1,035,378 for Board approval.