New incentives help homeowners and the environment
(NC)—It just got easier for Canadians to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change thanks to a new federal incentive that provides extra motivation for improving the energy efficiency of your home.
Beginning this fall, homeowners who undertake renovations may be eligible for an incentive of up to $3,348 if they can demonstrate that the project has made their home more energy efficient. The incentive is part of the EnerGuide for Houses Program, launched by Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency in 1998 to help homeowners identify and undertake energy efficiency upgrades.
With the EnerGuide for Houses service, an independent energy advisor visits the home, performs a basement-to-attic energy evaluation, calculates an energy efficiency rating and recommends measures to reduce energy consumption while maintaining a healthy living environment. After the homeowner has completed some or all of the recommended upgrades, the advisor performs a follow-up evaluation and determines the new energy efficiency rating.
Among the more commonly recommended improvements are caulking and weatherstripping around doors and windows, upgrading insulation and replacing old, inefficient heating systems. In addition to reducing energy bills and increasing comfort, such measures are good for the environment – the less energy a home consumes, the fewer greenhouse gas emissions it produces.
Now, the Government of Canada has introduced an incentive that will allow eligible homeowners to recoup some of their investment when they implement improvements recommended by an EnerGuide for Houses advisor. The amount of the incentive is calculated based on the home’s rating before and after upgrades are completed – the greater the improvement, the larger the incentive.
The incentive is part of the government’s strategy for implementing the Kyoto Protocol, under which Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Homeowners who renovated after using the EnerGuide for Houses service achieve average energy savings of 32 percent and greenhouse gas reductions of 2.2 tonnes per year, putting these families well on their way to meeting the government’s challenge to Canadians to reduce their personal production of greenhouse gases by one tonne per year.
For more information about the incentive program or to locate a licensed EnerGuide for Houses agent in your area, visit energuideforhouses.gc.ca or call 1 800 387-2000 (toll-free) or 995-2943 in the National Capital Region.
About the author:
News Canada
Categories: Home Improvements Tags: energy efficiency, Home Improvements
As we all know properties are always selling today…
As we all know properties are always selling today…
As we all know properties are always selling today. And since this fact is much evident nowadays, many experts claimed that home improvement added value.
For that issue, it is therefore not surprising that many of the resources always say that home improvement added value to a particular house or property. To support the claim that home improvement added value to the home, many resources are published today that greatly show that home improvement added value.
One of those notable resources stated that home improvement added value in the sense that home improvements not only make the house comfortable to live but will create a booming increase to the value of the home when the home owner will decide to give up such property. At this point, the true essence of how home improvement added value is much evident. It is noted that for just a single minor kitchen remodeling, the home value reached up to 90 percent of the total home improvement added value.
To further support the claim that home improvement added value, many of the experts noted that the home improvements will give you the return of what you spent for the home remodeling. In fact, the Remodeling Onlines latest Cost vs. Value reported, to support that home improvement added value, that those home owners who engaged in home improvements by updating their frequented rooms really achieve a great bang in their costs and really comment that home improvement added value. Aside from that, according to the Remodeling Onlines latest Cost vs. Value report, those home owners who made their homes spacious also enjoyed the biggest return for their costs and they also commented that home improvement added value.
On the findings of the Remodeling Online, the claim that home improvement added value to the home is really true for the fact the according to the survey made by the Remodeling Online, the kitchen and bath remodels along with family rooms, and master suite renovation were rated tops on the average nationwide. The claim that home improvement added value shows a great impression that a sense of freshness and spaciousness is the key to show that home improvement added value.
In line with that support for the claim that home improvement added value, the Remodeling Online to show that home improvement added value also noted of the projects that they examined, those that did not make the cut with a national value return of 75 percent or more include the master suite addition and exterior painting which are both 74 percent; bedroom attic remodeling and siding replacement are both 73 percent; basement refinishing is 69 percent; and much more.
Finally, most of the experts stated that home improvement added value for the fact that today the demands for homes greatly affect the value for improvements. So for that, they noted that the home improvement added value notion is much evident in a sellers market than in the buyers market. So if you want to feel that home improvement added value, you better engaged into some home improvements.
by A Walker
Categories: Home Improvements Tags: added value, energy efficiency
Older homes benefit most from energy efficiency incentive
(NC)’If your home is more than 25 years old and due for some renovation work, you might want to look into a new incentive program announced by the Government of Canada to encourage energy efficiency upgrades in the residential sector.
The incentive is part of the EnerGuide for Houses Program, launched in 1998 by Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency, which helps Canadians improve the energy efficiency of their homes to save money, increase comfort and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change.
The EnerGuide for Houses service involves a visit to your home by a licensed agent who performs an energy evaluation, calculates an energy efficiency rating for the house, and recommends measures to reduce energy consumption while maintaining a healthy living environment. After improvements have been made, the advisor returns to perform a follow-up evaluation and establish a new energy efficiency rating.
For eligible homeowners, the amount of the EnerGuide for Houses incentive is based on the difference in the energy efficiency rating before and after upgrades are implemented’ the greater the improvement in the rating, the larger the incentive, to a maximum of $3,348. The average incentive is $700.
Homes built before 1975 offer the most potential for energy efficiency improvements and for large incentives. Research shows that owners of homes that are more than 25 years old can reduce energy consumption by an average of 32 percent using the EnerGuide for Houses service; for homes 50 years old or more, average energy savings increase to 38 percent.
For more information about the incentive program or to locate a licensed EnerGuide for Houses agent in your area, visit energuideforhouses.gc.ca or call 1 800 387-2000 (toll-free) or 995-2943 in the National Capital Region.
- News Canada
About the author:
News Canada
Categories: Home Improvements Tags: energy efficiency, Older homes