We want to help you access the knowledge you're looking for to make smart decisions about bold climate action. We continue to produce publications to guide bold community climate action, but also have a library of multimedia resources available including webinar recordings, infographics and workshop presentations. Search for keywords or browse resources by topic area.
We have also included below some important websites we love - some we have created while others are created by our friends and associates in the industry.
Find a Resource
Explore resources by category:
Community Energy Association wants to help you access the knowledge you're looking for to make your community more energy aware and energy smart.
If you want an in-depth learning program and certification, sign up for our Certificate in Community Energy Management.
Other resources we like include the BC Climate Action Toolkt and QUEST
If you want to access the latest research, check out our publications that cover:
- Planning resources for developing a community energy and emissions plan
- Economics including local economic development
- Transportation with a focus on electric vehicles (EV's) and charging infrastructure
- Heating options for homes and district heating guides including biomass district heating
- Efficiency in buildings and how local governments can encourage or require it
- Renewable Energy Guide - CEA's suite of publications that gives local governments a solid starting point on planning, policy, heating, electricity, finance, and governance
- Snapshots, surveys, and analysis covering a wide range of actions
- CEEP QuickStart documents and webinars
Find a Publication
Past Builder Workshops
Building Better with the Energy Step Code - 2018 Builder Workshop Summaries
Changemakers Series
CEA’s “Changemakers Dialogues” are a series of online meetings to discuss the experiences of implementation and change within communities and local governments. The goal of the year-long series is to “Collaboratively explore, share, and make visible our collective experience creating change so that we can individually all be even better at skillful interventions”
This series was initiated by CEA because communities have moved through the awareness-raising and planning phases and are now focused on implementation as is CEA. The live meetings are open to all CEA staff and members.
PCP Regional Climate Advisor Webinars
Show me the Money: Funding Opportunities for Local Government Climate Action - November 20, 2017
Webinar slides:
Webinar: Show me the Money: Funding Opportunities for Local Government Climate Action
BC Municipal Climate Leadership Council Webinars
LED Streetlights and Solar Energy - February 23, 2017
Webinar slides:
Webinar: LED Streetlights and Solar Energy
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Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth & Climate Change and What it Means for BC Local Governments - January 18, 2017
Webinar slides:
Webinar: Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth & Climate Change
District Energy Community of Practice Webinar
The Role of District Energy in Low Carbon Buildings of the Future - February 23, 2017
Webinar slides:
Webinar: Role of District Energy in Low Carbon Buildings
CEA and City of Nelson Realtors' Workshop
(Click in white space below to begin video.)
CEEP QuickStart Webinars
Partnerships to Accelerate Residential Retrofits in BC Webinar - October 2, 2018
Webinar:
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Local Government & Carbon Funds - February 21, 2017
Webinar slides:
Introduction (Community Energy Association)
BC Local Government Carbon Funds (Community Energy Association)
Sparwood's Carbon Neutral Reserve Fund (District of Sparwood)
Webinar: Local Governments & Carbon Funds
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Solar Photovoltaics & BC Local Governments - December 8, 2016
Webinar slides:
Introduction (Community Energy Association)
Municipal Permitting Practices (Community Energy Association)
Net Metering (BC Hydro)
West Highlands Community Centre Solar PV Project (City of Kamloops)
Solar PV Projects (Comox Valley Regional District)
SunMine Project (City of Kimberley)
Solar Garden (City of Nelson)
Webinar: Solar Photovoltaics & BC Local Governments
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BC's Climate Leadership Plan and What it Means for Local Governments - September 22, 2016. Webinar slides:
Webinar: BC's Climate Leadership Plan and What it Means for Local Governments
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Upcoming BC Stretch Codes: What do they mean for BC communities? - April 5, 2016
Webinar slides:
Introduction (Community Energy Association)
Presentation (Pembina Institute)
Webinar: Upcoming BC Stretch Codes
Utility Incentives for Building Energy Efficient Homes - January 13, 2016
Webinar slides:
- Introduction (Community Energy Association)
- New Home Program (FortisBC and BC Hydro)
Webinar: Utility Incentives for Building Energy Efficient Homes
Sustainability Checklists - Best Practice and Community Examples - October 20, 2015
Webinar slides:
- Introduction: Approaches and Best Practice (Community Energy Association)
- Cash Incentive tied to Checklist Performance (Regional District of Nanaimo)
- Development Cost Charge Reductions tied to Checklist Performance (City of Penticton)
Webinar: Sustainability Checklists - Best Practice and Community Examples
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Fee Rebates to Encourage Energy Efficient Housing - June 8, 2015
Webinar slides:
- Introduction: Tools, Projects and Resources (Community Energy Association)
- Voluntary High Performance New Homes (Township of Langley)
- Building Incentive and Rebate Program (District of Invermere)
- Building Permit Rebate Programs for Energy Efficiency (Community Energy Association)
Webinar: Fee Rebates to Encourage Energy Efficient Housing
Saving Energy & Money in Corporate Operations - May 12, 2015
Webinar slides:
- Introduction: CEA Tools, Projects and Resources
- Township of Esquimalt: Saving Energy & Money in Corporate Operations
- LED Streetlights across BC: A Technology Adoption Program
Webinar: Saving Energy & Money in Corporate Operations
Development Permit Areas for Energy Sustainability - March 10, 2015
Webinar slides:
- Introduction to Development Permit Areas (Province of BC)
- Using DPAs to Support Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Community Energy Association)
- District of Lake Country GHG Development Permit Area (District of Lake Country)
Webinar: Development Permit Areas for Energy Sustainability
Biomass Heating Systems for Communities - January 22, 2015
Webinar slides:
- Introduction & Closing - Biomass Heating Systems for Communities January 2015
- City of Enderby & Fink Machine - Biomass Heating Systems for Communities, January 2015
- WoodWaste2Rural Heat- Biomass Heating Systems for Communities, January 2015
Webinar: Biomass Heating Systems for Communities
CEA presentations
Dale Littlejohn, CEA’s Executive Director on BC’s Climate Leadership Plan and what it means for communities: View Video
CEA team facilitates an national webinar on Low-carbon Resilience and Integrating Mitigation and Adaptation: View Video
Climate Leaders Playbook webinar delivered Sept. 2019 by Maya Chorobik, CEA's Community Energy Manager - "High Impact Climate Action".
Advancing along the Milestone Framework CEA webinar from June 2019.
Jeff Zukiwsky on Climate Action: Adaptation - Local Tools for Climate Information & Implementation: View Video
Patricia Dehnel, CEA’s Community Energy Manager talking to realtors about energy efficiency: View Video
Peter Robinson, CEA’s Chief Technology Officer shares his perspective on solar opportunities for communities: View Video
CEA’s Changemakers speaker series.
CEEP Quickstart presentations/webinar recordings from 2016 and 2017 are also saved under the resources and webinar/videos section of CEA’s website.
Resources & Publications
Green Development Standards Toolkit
Clean Air Partnership recently created a Green Development Standards Toolkit. Funded by FCM, the Toolkit can be broadly applied to any jurisdiction in Canada but draws on many Ontario examples. CEA has partnered with CAP to produce an appendix that provides additional locally relevant content for BC and Yukon.
Climate Action Planner Demo
In this video we introduce you to the Climate Action Planner. This interactive tool is for BC local governments to explore community-wide climate actions. It creates draft energy & emissions inventories for any local government or Islands Trust Area in BC, and allows you to conduct simplified modelling to see the effectiveness of implementing actions to meet GHG reduction targets (for detailed modeling, please contact CEA). Local government staff, elected officials and other stakeholders can use this tool to better understand what their community’s emissions are, and which actions will be most effective in reducing emissions and meeting targets. Actions are further explained in the Climate Leaders Playbook - https://bcclimateleaders.ca/.
CEA’s New Climate Action Planner Tool
In this webinar, CEA demonstrates its interactive Climate Action Planner tool, https://www.communityenergy.ca/climate-action-planner/. This tool allows a user to create a draft energy & emissions inventory for any local government or Islands Trust Area in BC, and conduct simplified modelling to see the effectiveness of implementing actions to meet GHG reduction targets. This webinar also demonstrates how it should be used in conjunction with the Climate Leaders Playbook (“the Playbook”), https://bcclimateleaders.ca/, and how it relates to the FCM-ICLEI Partners for Climate Protection milestones.
Climate Action Primer for the 2020 BC Election
Local governments are already doing a lot to create low carbon, livable communities, and there are many ways the Province can support. In this infographic, created by the BC Municipal Climate Leadership Council in collaboration with CEA, we lay out the specific ways the Province can support local governments in their climate action pathway.
EV Experience Videos
Why is home energy efficiency important and how can it be achieved in every new build? The Community Energy Association has created several short videos through the “Building a Legacy” initiative to address this question.
In addition to topics like Becoming an Energy Advisor and Improving Performance Through Air-Tightness, there are case studies of high performing homes, interviews with builders and home owners, and an analysis of how Kimberley, BC, transformed its local building industry.
Business Model Innovation to Support Air Source Heat Pump Retrofits in Metro Vancouver: What We’ve Learned (August 2020)
Follow up to our initial recommendations on fundamental elements of a new business model to significantly increase the number of electric air source heat pump industry in BC’s lower mainland, this report documents what we’ve learned since introducing the concept to the region including stakeholder input from interviews and outreach.
#RuralEV Mobile Showcase Report
The #RuralEV Mobile Showcase was a 2-year initiative to bring the experience of EVs to residents across the Kootenays. This graphic report summarizes outcomes of the project as well as the various elements of the campaign.
Accelerate Kootenays Graphic Report
Canada’s first community driven collaborative strategy to build a clean transportation network was completed in 2019. The 3-year, $1.89 million project brought together multiple partners with varying expertise to transform a rural region into one that facilitates EV travel to and within the region. This report summarizes the key achievements of the project and the related the impacts and outcomes.
Building a Legacy Videos
Why is home energy efficiency important and how can it be achieved in every new build? The Community Energy Association has created several short videos through the “Building a Legacy” initiative to address this question.
In addition to topics like Becoming an Energy Advisor and Improving Performance Through Air-Tightness, there are case studies of high performing homes, interviews with builders and home owners, and an analysis of how Kimberley, BC, transformed its local building industry.
BC Energy Step Code Introduction
Whether you are an elected official, a builder or a tradesperson, it’s important you know what the BC Energy Step Code is, and how the Province of BC is supporting the transition to net zero ready new building construction.