The ReCover Initiative and OPEN Technologies Partner to Advance Virtual Deep Retrofit Planning Tools
Halifax, NS — April 22, 2026 — The ReCover Initiative (ReCover) and OPEN Technologies (OPEN) today announced a new partnership to modernize deep retrofit planning across Atlantic Canada. The collaboration brings together ReCover’s ambitious goals for scaling deep retrofits in the region with OPEN’s Virtual Decarbonization Planner (VDP) tools to give building owners faster, lower-cost retrofit decision support.
OPEN’s virtual assessment tools streamline the collection of building data and generate detailed retrofit pathway scenarios, identifying the most cost-effective routes to meet energy and emissions reduction targets. Unlike traditional energy audits — which require on site investigation, extensive data gathering, and high upfront costs — virtual audits provide a cost effective and faster way to understand a building’s potential retrofit pathways.
This collaboration also marks the launch of OPEN’s VDP Data Lite, a rapid screening tool that helps identify buildings with strong potential for deep retrofits from a more limited number of data points. Together, VDP Data Lite and the full VDP create a scalable, data driven process that allows ReCover to efficiently screen large numbers of buildings through early qualification and focus deeper analysis where it will have the greatest impact.
The biggest barriers to deep retrofits are the time and cost required to get to a clear plan. Removing these challenges is key to scaling activity — which is exactly how this partnership drives momentum.
Research to Support Sector‑Wide Adoption
A ReCover-led research initiative will compare OPEN’s virtual audit outputs with traditional engineer-led energy studies conducted through ReCover’s Building Transformation Program. Each participating building will receive both assessments, facilitating the ability evaluate strengths, limitations, and appropriate use cases for virtual tools — supporting broader adoption across the sector.
Virtual audits have the potential to transform how the sector approaches early-stage planning. This research is about building the evidence base to understand where they deliver the most value and accelerating their adoption across the market.
How This Partnership Supports Building Owners and the Region
By integrating virtual assessment tools into deep retrofit planning, the partnership addresses persistent barriers such as high upfront costs, long timelines, and limited access to specialized expertise — particularly for small and mid-sized building owners. It helps identify the buildings best suited for deep retrofits, enabling owners to prioritize investments and act faster. The broader ecosystem benefits from more consistent early-stage data and a scalable pipeline of projects ready for deeper retrofit analysis.
About OPEN Technologies
OPEN Technologies is a Vancouver‑based climate‑tech company specializing in streamlining the collection of building attribute and performance data to generate high‑quality decarbonization planning insights from a limited number of data points. Their Virtual Decarbonization Planner is designed to generate comparable retrofit planning insights for 1/10th the cost and 1/100th the time of traditional, engineer‑led energy studies and decarbonization plans. Learn more at www.opentech.eco.
Media Contact (ReCover):
Maria McGowan
Manager, Communications
maria@recoverinitiative.ca
902.601.1784
recoverinitiative.ca
Or
Media Contact (Efficiency Capital):
Donavan Woollard
Chief Executive Officer
donovan@opentech.eco
604.720.4223