Image: Submitted/Saint John Energy

The Nova Scotia government announced new funding to help improve energy efficiency in Cape Breton and to fund research on the impact climate change is having on groundwater.

The province is investing $1.3 million, to be split among three projects. They include $776,159 worth of energy efficiency upgrades for the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation in Sydney which the government predicts will save the centre around $78,000 per ye on their energy bill. $207,729 of the funding will also go to installing heat pumps and removing oil furnaces for Cape Breton Community Housing Association homes. Lastly $343,000 will go to research in Cape Breton Regional Municipality and other communities on the impact of climate change on groundwater.

It’s part of the government’s Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund, which aims to help Nova Scotia reach its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

“This project will result in the electrification of the heating and cooling systems in nine Cape Breton Community Housing Association homes, thereby reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our energy costs, and will provide a much more comfortable living environment for our clients,” said Fred Deveaux, executive director of the Cape Breton Community Housing Association.