Bringing It Home An Indigenous-led initiative to enable and implement healthy,

energy efficient homes and facilities in First Nations, Métis, and

Inuit communities

FOR DIALOGUE &

ENGAGEMENT

April 18, 2019

Bringing It Home Summary | 2

About ICE

The Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise (ICE) is Canada’s leading non-profit promoting

Indigenous participation and leadership in the energy transition towards a low-carbon, socially

and economically abundant future. ICE’s programs are directed by a national Indigenous

Advisory Council. Lumos Energy manages ICE programs. ICE is accountable to the broader

Canadian Indigenous clean energy community. Our foundational initiative, the 20/20 Catalysts

Program, is the country’s leading clean energy capacity building program for Indigenous

peoples. Our growing ICE Network is broadening the base of collaboration to accelerate the

transition to a clean energy future. The emerging ICE Global Hub aims to enhance international,

Indigenous cooperation on clean energy.

Through these initiatives, we have developed into an immensely strong community of leaders

working together to advance an Indigenous-led clean energy future. It is this community that

is driving Bringing It Home forward.

Bringing It Home Summary | 3

Overview

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Canada are

faced with significantly substandard housing, facilities, and

infrastructure. In many communities, a large percentage of

homes and facilities are energy inefficient, unaffordable,

unhealthy, and overcrowded.

There are positive examples of Indigenous communities

implementing energy efficiency and housing improvement

initiatives. These efforts have resulted in successes related to

building design advancements, increased occupant

maintenance skills, and improved approaches for heating.

These successes are tremendously important for improving the

quality of Indigenous homes and facilities. However, on their

own, they have not been enough to create deep, long-term

solutions at the rate needed by communities across Canada.

To accelerate the implementation of the dramatic

improvements communities need, the Indigenous leaders of

ICE believe it is critical and timely to develop and implement

the Indigenous enabling environment to supports

communities in moving projects forward. Structures, policies,

and practices are needed to maximize the rate, scale, and

benefits of energy efficiency initiatives.

Bringing It Home is an initiative to identify the Indigenous

enabling environment for energy efficiency, and support

communities in fostering it for themselves.

This is an ambitious plan. ICE and our community of

Indigenous clean energy leaders are committed to initiate and

coordinate it, but it must be a co-creation process if it is to

drive systemic change. This process requires intense

collaboration with Indigenous communities, leaders, and

experts, as well as government, the private finance sector, and

others. It will involve building, refining, and iterating on the

process together. Bringing It Home is a multi-year initiative that will have a range of needs and

opportunities for support and interaction. Please contact Ian Scholten at

ischolten@indigenouscleanenergy.com for more information and to get involved.

» There has been limited progress on

improving the efficiency of

Indigenous homes and facilities

» An enabling environment

(structures, policies, and practices) is

needed to accelerate change

» We propose the enabling

environment consists of two

interrelated subsystems:

o Capacity (Governance &

Leadership, Management, and

Skills)

o Capital (Financing, Design &

Construction, and Maintenance)

» A three-stage approach is

proposed for developing and

implementing the enabling

environment:

1. Engagement & Design

2. National Solutions

Development

3. Lead Community

Implementation (to happen

concurrently with Stage 2)

» The Indigenous Clean Energy Social

Enterprise is committed to initiate

and coordinate the process

» This will require intensive

collaboration

» Contact Ian Scholten

(ischolten@indigenouscleanenergy.

com) to get involved

Highlights of Bringing It Home

Bringing It Home Summary | 4

1.0 Where do we want to be?

While we approach this initiative from the perspective of improving

the energy efficiency of homes and facilities, we know that what is

most important to community members are homes, facilities, and

infrastructure that are:

» Healthy – That the space does not create negative personal

health effects (e.g. due to mould, particulate matter,

overcrowding, etc.).

» Affordable – Occupants and communities can afford to

build and maintain buildings and pay for utilities.

» Culturally Relevant – Designs that accommodate

community members needs and uphold cultural practices.

» Durable – Last at least as long as buildings in non-

Indigenous communities.

» Comfortable – Occupants feel at ease in the buildings.

» Abundant – That there is enough housing for people to live

safely and securely.

» Available – That community facilities exist in a state that

members can actively and safely make use of them.

Conservation on the Coast’s purpose

is to reduce energy consumption in

three Indigenous communities in

Northern-Ontario. While they are

improving efficiency, they are also

addressing critical safety concerns in

homes as they perform their retrofits.

Conservation on the Coast has

achieved significant results carrying

out deep retrofits to nearly 90 homes

across the three communities.

Learn more on their website:

conservationonthecoast.com

Success Story

Ways to get involved…

Bringing It Home is an intentionally open and collaborative initiative. We welcome all

interested people to participate in the process through active contribution of ideas and

feedback, financial support, joining in the webinars, or other ways that interest you. Here are

some ideas:

If you are a… Then maybe you’d like to…

20/20 Catalysts Program Alumni Have your community become a core community,

participate in an Insight Session, or take a lead on a

topic area

Indigenous Community Leader or

Member

Have your community become a guide community

or join the ICE Network to see updates.

Energy Efficiency Expert (Private or

Non-Profit)

Join the core team, participate in a specific Insight

Sessions, or take a lead on a topic area

Government Program Office or

Policy Maker

Participate on the core team or financially support

the initiative

Philanthropic Organization Financially support the initiative and/or participate in

relevant Insight sessions.

Financial Institution Join the core team and/or participate in the

Financing Insight session

Theses are just some options for how to get involved, if you’d like to discuss other

options, please contact Ian Scholten, ischolten@indigenouscleanenergy.com.

Bringing It Home Summary | 5

While energy efficiency initiatives alone will not address all the

health and safety concerns faced by communities, it can be a means

for impacting those issues. For instance, one key mantra for energy

efficiency is to “Build Tight and Ventilate Right”. Doing this

eliminates uncontrolled air leakage, dramatically improving the

efficiency of the building. But this also reduces the chance of

moisture build up (and therefore mould), making the home

Healthier; eliminates drafts, making the home more Comfortable;

and reduces energy costs, making the home more Affordable.

Attachment A at the end of this document illustrates a selection of

health impacts caused by the existing housing realities and the

impacts the Bringing It Home approach will achieve.

2.0 How do we get there?

Projects like the ones described on in the Success Story boxes to

the right, provide models for specific, much needed changes in areas such as building standards

and occupant maintenance skills. However, these successes have yet to translate and scale

across Canada.

Indigenous leaders have expressed a need to understand needed is a wholesale understanding

of the systems and features that need to be in place to enable communities to implement

projects (the enabling environment). The enabling environment is

what sets the context and possibility for systemic change.

To see significant improvements in Indigenous homes and facilities,

the Indigenous enabling environment must be identified and

implemented for energy efficiency initiatives.

Proposed Indigenous Energy Efficiency Enabling

Environment

At the Indigenous Clean Energy Gathering held in October 2018, a

national group of 20/20 Catalysts and partners discussed what this

system might look like. Based on this input, a model for the enabling

environment for Indigenous energy efficiency initiatives was

developed. This model can be seen in Figure 1. Like an ecosystem,

these features are highly interconnected, each one contributing to

the success of the other; and all components being necessary for

maximum impact and change.

Enabling environments are the

interconnected set of structures,

policies, and practices that support

communities in moving projects

forward efficiently and with the

maximum benefit to the community.

Enabling environments support

systemic change. Features include:

» Leadership capacity,

» Policy approaches,

» Financing mechanisms,

» Skills and training pathways,

» Process knowledge, and

» Other elements depending

on the project type.

Enabling Environments

Nuxalk First Nation in Bella Coola,

B.C. have been literally setting new

standards for housing. Over the past

several years, the community has

established new building standards

that go beyond code to ensure their

buildings are energy efficient,

comfortable, easy to maintain, all the

while creating local employment

opportunities. These building

standards guide all new

development that happens in the

community.

Read more about their efforts here.

Success Story

Bringing It Home Summary | 6

Within the proposed enabling environment, two subsystems exist whose features interact more

closely with each other. Focusing on these two subsystems makes it easier to examine the

necessary interactions and manage the change process when it comes to creating the enabling

environment.

Subsystem 1 – Energy Efficiency Capacity

This subsystem focuses on the human and organizational skills and knowledge required at the

community level to advance an energy efficiency transformation in a way that is community

centered, culturally relevant, and locally implemented. It consists of:

» Skills – The local capacity to build and maintain homes. This includes construction

trades, management capabilities, and occupant know-how and training for performing

basic upkeep.

» Management – Best practices for who and how buildings are owned and maintained.

This includes asset management and how to plan for efficiency improvements.

» Governance & Leadership – An

understanding at the leadership level of

the importance of energy efficiency and,

more significantly, the know-how for

developing and upholding new

standards practices and.

Subsystem 2 – Energy Efficiency Capital

This subsystem focuses on components that

work together to unlock new sources of capital

necessary for improving the conditions of

Indigenous buildings. It involves:

» Financing – The processes required to

more effectively and easily finance

efforts. This includes new forms of funding

and how to create funds for on-going

maintenance.

» Design & Construction – Approaches for designing high efficiency buildings and

selecting appropriate efficiency technologies.

» Maintenance – The means for implementing on-going maintenance plans both formally

(through community employees) and informally (with building occupants).

When these two subsystems are tied together, the links between each component reinforce the

whole enabling environment. These links define how the change process occurs. Creating

Figure 1. Components and connections for Indigenous

Enabling Environment for Energy Efficiency.

Bringing It Home Summary | 7

systemic change requires all components of the enabling environment and their linkages to be

present and functioning. The Figure 4 below highlights some of these connections. The Bringing

It Home initiative will work to understand what structures, policies, and practices need to exist to

enable these connections.

4.0 Designing and Implementing the Enabling Environment

An intensive co-creative design process is needed to fully understand the structures, policies,

and practices required to make the enabling environment for Indigenous energy efficiency

efforts function. The process needs to identify existing promising practices and where necessary,

develop new solutions to fill gaps in our understanding. Ultimately, this initiative is about

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and their partners working together to

implement a framework for accelerating the execution of energy efficiency efforts.

This design process requires three complementary stages:

Figure 2. Overlay of subsystems highlighting linkages between components.

Leadership

establishes new

building standards

Buildings are

managed as assets

with regular

maintenance

Buildings last

longer, improving

financing

opportunities

Financing exists to

build more and

better buildings

Capacity exists to

manage assets

Direction is given

to build skills

Strong management

practices give security

for financing

Understanding how to

leverage different

financing sources

Leadership and

management work

together to affect

change

Building design affects

maintenance

requirements

Know-how exists

to perform

maintenance

Members trained

for building to

higher standards

Bringing It Home Summary | 8

A core collaboration team of 10-12

people will participate throughout Stage

1. The team will consist of:

» Indigenous Guide Communities –

Five to six communities will be

identified to be supported in putting

the enabling environment into

practice in Stage 3. Representatives

from these communities will be

expected to participate throughout

the insight sessions. These

community may overlap with

Steering Group members.

» Capacity Experts – To foster deeper

understanding of the capacity

subsystem, two to three individuals

with expertise in this area will be

asked to join throughout this stage.

Emphasis will be placed on

Indigenous experts.

» Capital Experts – Similar to the

Capacity Experts, a small group of

experts in the capital subsystem will

be asked to participate. Again,

emphasis will be placed on

Indigenous experts.

Members of this team will be asked to

participate in all Insight Sessions.

Core Collaboration Team

1. Engagement & Design – Bringing together

Indigenous energy efficiency leaders and other

experts to identify promising practices and gaps, and

design the pathways for Stages 2 and 3.

2. National Solutions Development – Collaboratively

working to create solutions to gaps identified in

Stage 1.

3. Indigenous Guide Community Implementation –

Supporting 5-6 communities in fostering the

enabling environment.

Stage 1. Engagement & Design

Estimated duration: 8 months – 1 year

This stage will be guided by the following set of Indigenous

engagement and design questions:

» Is the proposed enabling environment accurate?

» What components/models already exist that are

working well?

» What areas of the system need more insight or

design?

» How do you build the capacity and/or processes

needed to successfully make the enabling

environment work?

This stage began with a kick-off webinar February 27, 2019

where the context and plan for the initiative was shared. It

provided an opportunity for an initial assessment of the

proposed enabling environment.

The primary focus of this stage will be on three Insight

Sessions. Each session will consist of 30-35 participants with

a core collaboration team of 10-12 individuals who attend all sessions. This core group will

foster a greater sense of continuity and progress throughout the sessions and yield more shared

insights. The core team will consist of:

» Indigenous Guide Communities – Five to six communities will be identified to be

supported in putting the enabling environment into practice in Stage 3. Representatives

from these communities will be expected to participate throughout the insight sessions

and help guide the Stage 1 process to ensure it reflects community needs.

Bringing It Home Summary | 9

» Capacity Experts – To foster deeper understanding of the capacity subsystem, two to

three individuals with expertise in this area will be asked to join throughout this stage.

Emphasis will be placed on Indigenous experts.

» Capital Experts – Similar to the Capacity Experts, a small group of experts in the capital

subsystem will be asked to participate. Again, emphasis will be placed on Indigenous

experts.

In addition to this core team, knowledge area experts relevant to each Insight session will be

invited. This process (including tentative dates and locations for each session) is illustrated in

Figure 5 below. The three insight sessions consist of:

Insight Session 1. Capacity Subsystem – May 28-29, 2019 in Vancouver, B.C.

This session will delve deep into the three components of the Capacity subsystem. It is

expected that beyond this Insight Session, themes related to the Capacity subsystem will

surface throughout the stage as capacity underpins the opportunity of advancing energy

efficiency.

Insight Session 2. Design & Construction – July 17-18, 2019 in Toronto, ON

The Capital subsystem will be examined over two insight sessions. The first will focus on

the Design and Construction components of the subsystem. There will be strong

connection in this session with the Capacity subsystem as relevant skills and

management needs will be considered.

Insight Session 3. Financing Mechanisms – September 14-15, 2019 in Montreal, QC

Given the immense need address existing financing shortfalls for improving the quality

of Indigenous infrastructure, an entire Insight session has been dedicated to this

component.

Each of these sessions will be co-hosted by Indigenous leaders and will have an Elder open the

day.

Between these sessions, additional research, design, interviews, and engagement will occur. We

will also share summaries of these sessions through the ICE Network.

In October 2019, alongside the ICE Gathering, a 1-day Summit Session will be held to bring

both streams back together to review the input received through the process and solidify the

plan for moving forward.

Outcomes of this stage include:

a) A core collaborative working group for advancing through Stages 2 and 3;

b) A summary of existing promising practices for each component of the enabling system;

c) A plan for developing new solutions as required; and

Bringing It Home Summary | 10

d) A design process for Indigenous communities and their partners to create the enabling

environment for their efforts (implementing this process is Stage 3).

Based on the results of Stage 1, Stages 2 and 3 will happen concurrently. While Stage 2 will be

focused on developing solutions to any key gaps, Stage 3 will see the enabling environment

being developed in the Indigenous Guide Communities. This concurrent process is important for

two reasons:

1. It allows action to be taken at the community level as soon as possible (creating early

impacts); and

2. It puts the process into a cycle of design and implementation, allowing ideas and actions

to be developed and refined based on immediate feedback from Indigenous

communities.

Throughout both these stages, sessions will be organized to share experiences and outcomes

from Stages 2 and 3 with other First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and other partners

who are keen to adopt and support the enabling environment.

Stage 2. National Solutions Development

Estimated duration: 1-2 years

This stage involves articulating the key structures, policies, and practices necessary for each

component of the enabling system. This will be an intensive, collaborative process to understand

the features of each component and how the work together to support the implementation of

energy efficient and healthy, homes, facilities, and infrastructure. For certain components, this

may involve sharing promising practices. In other instances, it may require a collaborative design

process to create new structures or models.

Figure 3. Timeline for Stage 1 of Bringing It Home (Engagement & Design).

Bringing It Home Summary | 11

Tools and processes identified or developed in this stage will be tested and refined in Stage 3 to

ensure they meet the needs of communities. The results will be synthesized into a tool to

support future communities pursuing energy efficiency.

The exact process followed in Stage 2 will be determined through the activities of Stage 1. The

ICE Network will be used to coordinate and share results of Stage 2.

Outcomes of Stage 2 include:

a) Descriptions of promising, scalable practices and approaches for each component;

b) Development of new tools and mechanisms where necessary to fill in knowledge gaps

(such as financing structures); and

c) A comprehensive guide to support communities in fostering the enabling environment

for themselves.

Stage 3. Lead Community Implementation

Estimated duration: 2+ years

The final stage puts the enabling system into practice. Working with the 4-6 Core Communities

we will implement the promising practices and mechanisms identified and developed in Stages

1 and 2.

This stage will happen concurrently with Stage 2. The aim here is to treat this as a true

design process where ideas are being tested by communities in real-time. This allows their

experiences and feedback to be integrated into the Design & Development process.

The process followed in this stage will be identified through Stages 1 and 2. It will likely include

training sessions for community employees and leaders to build their capacity and knowledge in

each of the components. It will also include regular webinars where the Core Communities can

share their experiences with other Indigenous communities. The webinars will help formalize a

community of practice for carrying out energy efficiency initiatives. This community of practice

will support the uptake of the enabling environment tools and insights as other communities

embark on energy efficiency efforts.

Outcomes of Stage 3 include:

a) The implementation of the enabling system in 4-6 Indigenous communities (including

building knowledge, skills, and capacity where needed);

b) The refinement of the enabling system based on community experience; and

c) The creation of a community of practice for fostering the enabling system and scaling

out energy efficiency initiatives.

Bringing It Home Summary | 12

Leadership, Collaboration & Co-Creation

ICE is committed to initiating and coordinating this process of understanding the Indigenous

enabling environment for energy efficiency. Our experiences designing and implementing the

20/20 Catalysts Program and the ICE Network provide us with a strong foundation for

facilitating this process. Additionally, the community of Catalysts, mentors, and members of the

ICE Network provide a strong cohort of leaders prepared to contribute and act on this process.

However, we know no one should do this alone. We’ve designed this process to be open

and collaborative.

There exists tremendous knowledge within Indigenous energy efficiency experts and community

leaders: this insight must be the main driver of the initiative. Acknowledging this leadership, ICE

is approaching this initiative with an openness and desire for shared leadership. While we will

undertake organizing and facilitating the process, we welcome others, particularly Indigenous

leaders and communities, to take ownership of processes or knowledge for which they are well

suited.

Interested parties

and change

adopters

Specific

knowledge

contributors and

collaborators

Core

Collaboration

Team

Change Adopters

Individuals interested in the

process and who will use the

outcomes. Insight session

summaries and process updates

will be shared with them through

the ICE Network. They will also be

able to participate in webinars.

Knowledge Contributors

Individuals with specific

knowledge to share. They will be

invited to sessions related to

their knowledge area and

receive process updates.

Core Collaboration Team

Individuals will be present

throughout the process and will

actively contribute to the

design, outcomes, and

deliverables.

Figure 1. Collaboration opportunities for Core Collaborators, Knowledge Contributors, and Change Adopters.

Bringing It Home Summary | 13

We have identified three levels of interaction to ensure the participation and inclusion of all

interested parties. See Figure 8 above.

5.0 Outcomes & Impacts

This initiative is an opportunity to create significant impacts with Indigenous communities across

Canada. We see the three-to-five-year plan described above as a first step on a generational

change process towards improving the efficiency, durability, and healthiness of Indigenous

homes and facilities.

Bringing It Home will deliver several important outcomes that drive the impacts summarized in

the table below.

Outcome Impact

1. Indigenous enabling environment for energy

efficiency projects has been defined and

communicated in a tool for communities.

A defined pathway for energy

efficiency projects making it easier

for communities to act.

Bringing It Home Summary | 14

2. Governance and management curriculum for

community leaders based on Indigenous best

practices.

Building community capacity to

foster the enabling environment.

3. Development of a community of practice for

Indigenous energy efficiency.

Communities have a support

network they can turn to when

implementing projects.

4. Increased number of Indigenous energy efficiency

mentors.

Recognition and expansion of

Indigenous expertise and leadership.

5. Improved collaboration amongst communities,

governments, finance sector, and other

collaborators.

Better collaboration improves overall

support, making it easier to

implement projects.

6. Established financing mechanisms to access social

finance capital.

Increased access to capital for

Indigenous housing and facilities.

The impacts of this initiative will continue to grow well past its conclusion. ICE is committed to

fostering that growth. ICE is positioned to support on-going efforts that result from this

initiative through its established community, partners, the ICE Network, and its other programs.

This is the same commitment we have shown for the 20/20 Catalysts Program as it has

developed over the past 5 years.

Bringing It Home Summary | 15

Attachment A Energy Efficiency – A Key Determinant of Indigenous Health

Existing Situation Bringing It Home Impacts

Energy-Housing Factors

▪ Very poor indoor air quality

▪ Poor air circulation

▪ Insufficient heat

▪ Inadequate lighting

▪ Increased Particulate Matter 2.5

▪ Soot, mould, and moisture build up

Primary Health Risks &

Disease Incidences

▪ Respiratory illnesses

▪ Asthma

▪ Skin conditions

▪ Tuberculosis

▪ Alzheimers

▪ Cancer

Secondary Health Risks & Disease

Incidences

▪ Mental illness

▪ Depression

▪ Neurological conditions

▪ Systemic poverty

Healthy Housing

▪ Culturally appropriate homes

▪ Local materials and employment

▪ Energy efficient designs and solutions

▪ Major and minor retrofits and repairs

▪ Enabling environment for sustained,

long-term improvements

Primary Health

Impacts & Benefits

▪ Dramatic reduction

in chronic illnesses

▪ Sustainable housing

▪ Poverty alleviation

through energy cost

reduction

▪ Improved conditions

for education

Secondary Community Impacts &

Benefits

▪ Local economic development and

careers

▪ Reduced fuel spills and contamination

▪ Reduced home and facility fire risks

Core Impact Areas