Turning social capital into financial capital
Remember when you were in college and you and your friends all went in on a case of beer? You may have been on the cutting edge of social finance without even realizing it. Sharing costs in return...
View ArticleFinancing Energy Efficiency: 3 buildings, 3 solutions
With over 50% of Toronto’s GHG emissions resulting from energy-use in buildings, financing energy efficiency in the built environment has become one of TAF’s core priorities. While capital costs are...
View ArticleMoney and mission can go hand-in-hand
Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) has selected two sustainability-focused firms to manage the equity portfolio of our endowment fund. Award-winning Generation Investment Management LLP, co-founded by...
View ArticleClimateSpark – What REALLY happened …
Starting last summer and wrapping with a gala in February, the ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge attracted and refined ventures that had the potential to earn revenues while stimulating greenhouse...
View ArticleProperty Assessed Payments for Energy Retrofits: Coming to a City near you?
Energy efficiency pays for itself, right? So why don’t people invest in home energy retrofits? Well, one reason is that people move around too often. The average tenure of home ownership in Toronto is...
View ArticleMeet the Impact Investors
TAF will be speaking at the upcoming Social Finance Forum. The session — Meet the impact investors: The development of private equity funds in Canada — will include several other investors, also...
View ArticleGetting to “yes” on energy efficiency retrofits – the TAF ESPA
TAF’s Energy Savings Performance Agreement (ESPA) solves a lot of problems. This original financing product, developed by TAF over the past year, helps carve a pathway towards a $1 billion worth of...
View ArticleOntario Approves Property Tax Based Financing for Energy Retrofits!
One of the biggest challenges to improving energy efficiency in existing homes and buildings is the upfront costs. That’s why one of our key priorities at TAF is to develop and implement new financial...
View ArticleThe cost of procrastination
Energy efficiency Regulations are designed to secure a predictable reduction in energy use, and can be translated into predictable GHG reduction based on the energy saved. The process is usually long...
View ArticleWynne: conservation is the cheapest energy
Quotable, notable and laudable from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Throne Speech, February 18, 2013: “It [the new government] will ensure that every part of the province has dependable, affordable sources of...
View Article70 percent invested for impact
I’m proud to say that 70 percent of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) endowment is now invested for impact. That means TAF is mobilizing $16 million of our capital – not just the interest earned – in...
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The future of green financing looks bright in Chicago
Investments in high-rise energy-efficient solutions pay for themselves. On May 13, Ross Powell and I found ourselves amongst 300 like-minded investors and policymakers, as well as people from NGOs,...
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Are we failing our future?
It’s a good thing the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) keeps its eye on greenhouse gases. As the old saying goes, you don’t manage what you don’t measure. ECO, an arms-length provincial...
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Take low-carbon to the next level
Full disclosure: I am an Advisor for the upcoming Social Finance Solutions Lab, to be held at the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) on October 3-4 in Calgary. In addition to workshops and...
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First out of the gate: Robert Cooke proves the ESPA has legs
By Ross Powell Robert Cooke Co-op is one of the first projects being completed under our new and innovative Energy Savings Performance Agreement (ESPA). Construction on Robert Cooke Co-op’s energy...
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Join us this Friday at ONHPA’s trade show
Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association is hosting their 2013 ONPHA Conference and Trade Show this week at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. ONPHA has been the voice of Ontario’s non-profit housing...
View ArticleWhat’s not sexy about money!?
Research conducted in the US indicates people claim energy efficiency is a priority, but actually spend their money on aesthetics. The Shelton Group CEO Susan Shelton says “Most homebuyers expect to...
View ArticleMirror, mirror on the wall…which are the most innovative energy efficiency...
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development found carbon emissions could be reduced by 40% in six major building sectors with a payback period of just five years. Tapping into this vast...
View ArticleTAF profiled as an impact investing pioneer
Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) is one of four Canadian impact investment leaders profiled in a paper recently released by Ann Jackson and Denis Ho of Jackson/Martin/ImpactLink titled “Adopting Impact...
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Innovative financing to tame the energy monster
We’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: One of the biggest sources of urban greenhouse gas emissions is the energy used in big buildings. That’s why TAF has dedicated so much time and money to...
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