Rewarding Retrofits
As they watched their utility bills creep ever higher, Chandra and Kalpana Jangam realized they had to make their 31-year-old Calgary house more energy efficient. The question was who could they trust for reliable advice?
 Energy Advisor, Stephen Farrell, with the Jangams “Having a professional assessment, certified by the federal government, was the most important thing for us,” says Chandra, who plans on taking at least two energy-saving actions flagged during their assessment – installing a high-efficiency furnace and upgrading the house’s thin insulation. “Down the road, we’ll get a grant, as well as a payback on our gas bill.” Operating since April 2007, Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) ecoEnergy Retrofit program offers grants to residential property owners who improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. To qualify for the grants, homeowners must take these three steps:
Federal grant amounts are tied to the energy efficiency of specific upgrades. Examples include $40 for a window replacement, $65 for a low-flow toilet replacement, up to $790 for a high-efficiency furnace, up to $750 for significantly improved attic insulation and $1,250 for a solar domestic hot water system. The maximum total grant you can receive for one house is $5,000. For a detailed list of available grants, click here. The initial assessment is a detailed (one-and-a-half to two-hour) energy evaluation of your house, including a blower-door check for air leaks. At the end of the evaluation, the energy advisor will give you a verbal, and later a written, report on your home’s energy use including its overall energy rating. The report includes a checklist of recommended retrofits and outlines what grants and energy savings you can expect if you undertake certain upgrades.  “This pre-retrofit evaluation is primarily educational, and it provides you with an action plan for making your house more energy efficient,” says Stephen Farrell, president of Calgary-based VerdaTech Energy Management & Consulting, which performs 600-700 ecoENERGY evaluations a month throughout Alberta. “In a typical 15-to-20-year-old house, if the owner undertakes one or two of the high-priority upgrades we recommend, they might realistically cut their energy bills by 35 to 40 per cent.” As of this spring, over 260,000 Canadian homeowners have had initial energy evaluations done under the ecoENERGY Retrofit program. Of those, 42,000 have thus far undertaken subsequent energy-efficiency upgrades and had follow-up evaluations, earning an average grant of $1,050. To maintain the integrity of the evaluation program, energy advisers are not allowed to undertake any ensuing upgrades. Instead, homeowners need to find an experienced contractor; it’s recommended you get at three least estimates for any substantial improvements. You can also do the work yourself, as long as it’s done properly and you retain the bills for purchased equipment and materials. You have 18 months from the time of the initial assessment to undertake eligible upgrades, have a post-retrofit evaluation and apply for your grant. The good news is once the energy advisor confirms the improvements at that second evaluation, he or she will apply for the grant on your behalf and tell you exactly how much you can expect to receive. You should receive a cheque within 90 days of submitting your grant application. The ecoENERGY Retrofit homeowners’ program is available for existing, low-rise residential properties, including single detached and attached homes (e.g. row housing, duplexes and triplexes) and small multi-unit residential buildings. Newly-built homes occupied for less than six months are not eligible, nor are any energy-efficiency upgrades started prior to an initial energy evaluation. The program is scheduled to end March 31, 2011. To learn more, about the provincial rebate, click here. For more information about the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program, click here. For a detailed list of federal grants available, click here. To find an NRCan-certified energy advisor in your area, click here. |
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