BC Housing disabled cooling devices at some sites over costs

BC Housing has now admitted that some of the social and subsidized housing sites it operates have been without cooling systems for years after they restricted heat pumps at four locations.

The agency, which builds, operates and finances housing for predominantly poor, disabled or senior residents, said as a result of CTV News enquiries on the matter earlier this month they “took immediate action to resolve this” and are now scrambling to restore the cooling function as the weather heats up again.

CTV News has also asked for confirmation that the heat pump functions were limited during last year’s heat dome, and while they did not address that question directly, the agency said it did not look at the cooling function for hundreds of units until it was brought it to their attention earlier this month, suggesting cooling was unavailable during the deadliest hot weather event in Canadian history. 

“We looked into this issue and identified four BC Housing heat pump retrofit sites with heat pumps with inactive cooling functions,” wrote a BC Housing spokesperson of the residential complexes in Vancouver and Surrey.

“Cooling functions have already been restored at one location and work is currently underway to complete assessments and repairs required to restore heat pump cooling functions at the remaining three sites, which total 179 units.”

After repeated interview requests from CTV News were turned down, BC Housing provided their vice-president late Thursday afternoon, who said that when the heat pumps were installed in the decades-old housing developments around 2010, excessive heat was not a concern.

“These are low-rise buildings where yes, it’s uncomfortable and it's hot like it might be in your home, but that's not where we're seeing deaths occur,” said VP of operations Dale McCann, revealing that those with doctors’ notes had the function enabled.

He insisted that it was the tenants themselves who complained about site-wide temperature controls that saw all units paying more in hot weather, and that “many of the tenants were actually concerned about the cost of electricity in their units, and at the time it was not deemed that cooling was a high priority.”

He did not explain why the policy wasn’t revisited before the heat dome, despite the unprecedented warning, but insisted that no one died during that heat wave in the four complexes in question. 

CONTRADICTORY STATEMENT FROM HOUSING MINISTRY

The communications manager for the attorney general and minister responsible for housing later emailed to say, “The cooling function of the heat pumps at the four sites had been inactive since the heat pumps were installed in 2010/11” but that’s at odds with the document that prompted the scrutiny.

A joint 2017 report for the City of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia and the Greenest City Initiative cited BC Housing officials who told the author “heat pumps at (one Vancouver seniors complex) are set to only provide heating, not cooling” and that in a cost-saving move, “BC Housing has disabled the cooling function at other heat pump retrofit sites.” 

The then-energy manager for BC Housing was quoted as saying, “They were only supposed to provide cooling above 27 C outside” but did not describe what the indoor temperature in an older building would’ve been.

The quotes and policy have not been disputed by BC Housing, and in fact, McCann said some of the heat pumps are so old, it may not be possible to enable the cooling function and they may need to be replaced.

Last month, a long-awaited report into heat dome deaths by the BC Coroners Service determined 98 per cent of the 619 deaths during the record-breaking heat wave happened indoors. Most of those who died were seniors and people with chronic health issues “without adequate cooling systems.” 

WHO’S ACCOUNTABLE?

A tenant in one of the impacted buildings spoke to CTV News on condition of anonymity, explaining that he and other tenants are fearful of repercussions if they speak up. He said that for years they’ve been complaining about cooling issues and expressed frustration that successive housing ministers haven’t responded to his concerns.

Two weeks ago, then-minister responsible, David Eby, axed and replaced much of BC Housing’s board in a shakeup after a review of "organizational capacity and financial systems” found roles and responsibilities at the agencies were unclear and recommended that “strategic planning and prioritization should inform spending requests” among other measures.

Staff for Eby, who has stepped down from his cabinet position as he seeks the leadership of the B.C. NDP, referred us to the interim minister responsible for housing. But acting Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing Murray Rankin’s office has not replied to a request for an interview.

Finance Minister Selina Robinson was housing minister from 2017 to 2020 and when asked about the disabled cooling functions, said “I'm not as familiar with the file at this point but at the time I wasn't aware of those actions." 

McCann said that since the heat dome tragedy, BC Housing is looking at better designing future developments to withstand high summer temperatures, and that they’re doing more in the meantime as well, with misting stations and air conditioning in some common areas.

“We're doing wellness checks on residents, identifying the most vulnerable,” he said .”There’s been a lot of work that has been done and a lot of work still to do in the future.”