Ежедневные домашние концы реновации

April 1, 2008 marked the first anniversary of the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, administered by the Office of Energy Efficiency within Natural Resources Canada.

This program provides financial incentives to help motivate Canadian home owners (and owners of non-residential buildings in Canada) to reduce their consumption of non-renewable resources in their homes through a variety of simple to complex home renovation activities.

So, how is the program progressing? Are Canadian home owners participating? What are the most common types of energy conservation related home improvements Canadian home owners undertaking? And, most importantly, is this program making a significant difference  to reducing the the consumption of non-renewable resources in Canadian homes?

We have previously written articles about the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, our own experience with the Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report we received on our own home as well as ways we believed participation could be increased.

Now, lets look at the results from the first full year of the program (April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008).  We are sincerely appreciative of the Office of Energy Efficiency within Natural Resources Canada for not only providing the following information but providing this so quickly.

•     9,991,450 - Estimated Low-Rise House Build Prior to 2000 in Canada
•         102,845 - Number of Initial (or ‘D’) Energy Efficiency Evaluations
•            17,653 - Number of Follow-up (or ‘E’) Energy Efficiency Evaluations*
• $17,528,000 - Total Value of Program Incentives
•            59,184 - CO2 Savings (Tons Per Year)

*Home owners have 18 months from the date of the initial or ‘D’ energy efficiency evaluation (i.e. energy audit) by a prescribed / accredited organization to have the same organization return and conduct the follow-up or ‘E’ energy efficiency evaluation which determines the extent of the energy conservation measures undertaken in the home.  The results from the ‘E’ energy efficiency evaluation are used to determine which, if any, grants the home owners will receive.

Think about the above numbers. They are huge, aren’t they? More than fifty-nine thousand tons of CO2 annually saved as result of Canadian home owners making their homes more energy efficient through their participation in the program. Does the old expression ‘heavy man’ apply here?

Almost 18,000 Canadian homes having completed both energy efficiency evaluations. That is more homes than in some large towns.

More than $17.5 million of grants to be paid by the Canadian Federal Government under the ecoENERGY Retrofit program after the first year alone. And, many Provinces are also participating to the same or similar extent. This means that home owners who have completed the ‘E’ energy efficiency evaluation really could be receiving not just $17.5 million but upwards of $35 million (Federal and Provincial ecoENERGY Retrofit grant payments combined).

Do you want more numbers? How about an increase in the average EnerGuide rating for homes completing the ‘E’ energy efficiency evaluation from 60 (from the ‘D’ evaluation) to 70 (from the ‘E’ evaluation). That is an increase of (quick, where is my calculator) 16.7%.

Now, numbers are really only meaningful if they are measured against other benchmarks or are examined in more detail. And, would it be interesting to know which energy efficiency measures are the most common undertaken by Canadian home owners and which are amongst the least?

Return tomorrow where we examine the first year results of the Federal Government’s ecoENERGY Retrofit program in more detail.