Posts Tagged ‘grants and incentives’

The LiveSmart BC program is a provincial run initiative that provides rebates and incentives for your home! BC recently announced $35 million dollars in new funding over a span of 3 years to be allocated to this Efficiency Incentive Initiative from the 2010 budget. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources is currently working with its utility partners to finalize the structure of the new program.

Details on the program are expected to be announced very shortly. We will continue to post updates as they become available to clear up any misunderstanding of the program. For the homeowner who are currently in the LiveSmart Program there is no change. All homeowners who entered the LiveSmart program by having their pre-retrofit home energy assessment performed prior to end of business on August 15, 2009, and who complete their post-retrofit home energy assessment within 18 months after they had their first home energy assessment, will still be eligible for the rebates and incentives from the initial LiveSmart BC program. Find out more.

With “Going Green” being the latest trend in home improvement, many people want to take part but often do not know where to start. Having an ecoEnergy audit preformed on your house can be a great first step and help provide a clear step-by-step plan to upgrading your home in an energy-efficient manner.

An ecoEnergy audit is preformed by an outside organization’s certified energy adviser and the assessment will evaluate the energy efficiency of your home. The focus of the initial audit will be on windows, doors, the heating system and insulation and typically takes around two hours and costs around $150 per visit. A “blower door” test is completed in order to determine if there are any air leaks, a major contributor to heat loss.

Once the assessment is finished the certified energy adviser will present you with a report which will provide you with an analysis of the amount of energy you are using, where and will provide solutions to better allocate your “energy dollars” to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Accompanying the report will also be a rating of you home of how it compares to others with respect to energy efficiency.

By implementing the recommended upgrades it will allow you to reduce cold drafts of your home, identify moisture problems, improve your home’s ventilation, reduce overall energy use and save money on your energy bills.

These audits are done by organizations that are unaffiliated with Homeworks therefore, will give you a completely objective measure of your home. After, you have completed your upgrades you call the certified energy advisers back to assess the improvement of energy efficiency in your home. Having these tests done will typically qualify you for ecoEnergy federal grants and other incentives.

If you are interested in improving the energy efficiency of your home, book a free in-home consultation, visit our showrooms or call 604.697.5700.