BC Housing 'looking into' whether residential cooling systems disabled
The provincial housing agency is keeping tight-lipped in the wake of troubling questions around whether some of the most vulnerable people in British Columbia are unauthorized to use cooling systems already installed in their homes.
A newly-unearthed 2017 report examining the efficiency and carbon emissions of heat pumps in multi-unit residential units cites BC Housing officials saying “heat pumps at (one Vancouver seniors complex) are set to only provide heating, not cooling” and that “BC Housing has disabled the cooling function at other heat pump retrofit sites” to save money.The study was co-sponsored by the City of Vancouver, UBC and the Greenest City Initiative
Given that the “Documentation of heat-pump retrofits in multi-unit residential buildings” analysis is several years old, CTV News asked to interview someone with the provincial crown corporation to find out whether the cooling function was disabled during last year’s fatal heat dome and whether the function continues to be restricted at this time.
Three days after several requests, a spokesperson emailed to say: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. BC Housing will be looking into these assertions." https://www.bchousing.org/
The BC Coroners’ report into the 2021 heat dome found 98 per cent of the 619 deaths happened indoors, most of them in seniors and people with chronic health issues “without adequate cooling systems.”
TIME TO RECONSIDER AIR CONDITIONING?
Robyn Chan, the chair of the city of Vancouver’s planning commission, discovered the document while doing research and is alarmed at the guidelines discussed in the report, which used three BC Housing properties and several strata complexes as case studies.
“It's so frustrating to think that these are vulnerable people who are living in this housing -- they identify many of them are new immigrants, they are living below the poverty line, in many cases,” she noted. “The government is then policing how they're able to keep themselves comfortable and what those levels should be.”
"Electrically driven heat pumps (HPs) provide a major way to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and improve comfort," wrote author Michaela Neuberger, who noted BC Housing had been “very supportive” of sharing data and experiences retrofitting buildings with heat pump systems.
“They were only supposed to provide cooling above 27 C outside but our tenants quickly found out that they could override that,” reads one quote attributed to BC Housing’s then-energy manager while discussing a townhouse complex in Surrey. “Because the tenants are not paying the heat pump electricity bills, there are certainly abuses.”
Chan is urging all levels of government to start thinking of heat pumps and air conditioners as medical devices, rather than luxuries, because the environmental impacts are minor compared to the comfort and even life-saving function they provide for the elderly and chronically ill.
RENTER AND STRATA ISSUES AROUND COOLING SYSTEMS
In the days after the heat dome, some people took to social media claiming their landlord had shut off air conditioning to their unit out of concern over soaring electricity bills, but a lawyer fluent in strata governance and residential tenancy law warned that could get owners in hot water.
“If the air conditioning was there at the start of the tenancy or is in the tenancy agreement, the landlord has an obligation to repair and maintain,” explained Alex Chang, of Lesperance Mendes Lawyers. https://lmlaw.ca/alex-chang/
Failure to do so within a reasonable time could result in a Residential Tenancy Board order to repair or restart cooling systems, with the potential for damages paid to tenants. When it comes to strata living, however, it becomes trickier to install systems outside the unit.
“Strata corporations have a lot of discretion as to whether or not they want to allow the installation of air conditioning units because it generally involves an alteration to the common property,” said Chang. “If they can prove they have a medical necessity, a tenant might be able to avail themselves of remedies under the human rights code and get orders that force some stratas in some instances to install air conditioning.”
With so many of the heat dome deaths being indoors, and cities like Vancouver already passing bylaws requiring new mid- and high-rise multi-unit residential structures be built with air conditioning, Chang expects there will be more legislative and regulatory challenges and changes recognizing cooling devices as a medical device, and also “necessary for people to reasonably enjoy their homes.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.