Renovating a home

By getting an Home Energy Evaluation, our experienced energy advisors can help you develop an energy efficiency plan that match your goals for your home while reducing your energy costs, your carbon footprint and accessing grants, rebates and loan incentives that are available from our government.

Our Home Energy Assessment will be following the NRCAN EnerGuide Rating protocol.

Developed by Natural Resources Canada, the EnerGuide Rating System measures your home’s energy efficiency and performance. Energy efficiency levels are rated based on a home’s Gigajoules (GJ) of energy consumed per year, where the better the energy performance of a home is, the closer to zero its rating will be.

Included is a EnerGuide House Label, Information Sheet and a Renovation Upgrade Report, which provides you with a customized action plan to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

The Report includes:

• recommended energy efficiency upgrades,
• potential home energy savings,
• greenhouse gas emissions reductions,
• health and safety information; and
• energy saving tips.

To qualify for available rebates and incentives, you will likely need to get an EnerGuide home energy evaluation before and after your renovation.

To maximize your incentive eligibility, contact us before starting your renovation.

Building a new Home

We can help you navigate and meet the BC Energy Step Code requirements. This Code is a provincial regulation that local governments use to set energy efficiency standards for all new homes built across the province. It consists of a series of steps, representing increasing levels of energy-efficiency performance. By adopting one or more steps of the standard, local governments can increase building performance requirements in their communities.

Commercial Energy Efficiency Audits

We do ASHREA Benchmarking as well as Level 1 Energy Audits. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) outlines three different levels of energy audits. The audit levels differ based on how intensive they are and what type of outcome you can expect.

We have an experienced Electrical Engineer on staff that has cross trained as an Energy Manager that can help you find potential no-cost and low-cost energy conservation measures in commercial or institutional buildings.

Level 1 audits or a walk-through audits includes brief interviews with the facility staff, a review of utility bills and other relevant operating data, and a limited walkthrough of the building surveying its systems and operations. This audit will help building owners to determine how well the building is performing and serves as a baseline for measuring future improvements. It can also guide building owners on how best to prioritize energy-efficient projects or if further evaluation is needed.

Energy Modeling

An energy model calculates how much energy a building is expected to use. Modelled energy consumption in a building can relate to space heating, ventilation, lighting, appliance and plug loads. Our energy advisor uses HOT2000 modelling software that was developed by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to support the EnerGuide Rating System, ENERGY
STAR for New Homes, and R-2000 residential
energy-efficiency initiatives.

The energy model accounts for the size and geometry of the building, the climate at the building’s location, the effective insulation values of assemblies such as walls, ceilings, windows and doors, and the mechanical systems that keep the house comfortable and provide hot water..

Energy Modeling is required by the BC Energy Step Code for Part 9 Residential Buildings and by some Existing Homes Energy Savings Programs.

Energy modeling is included in all our Energy Assessments (New and Existing Homes)

BC Energy Step Code Compliance

The BC Energy Step Code puts British Columbia on a path to meet the province’s target that all new buildings must be “net-zero energy ready” by 2032.

BC Energy Step Code sets performance requirements for new construction and groups them into steps. We are currently at Step 3 for most of the jurisdictions in the BC Interior.

A standardized Compliance Report is required to confirm the Energy Efficiency Performance of Part 9 residential buildings. The reports provide local governments with a consistent and convenient approach to check for compliance as prescribed in BCBC Subsection 9.36.5. or
9.36.6.

The report requires energy modeling that is based on “the house-as-a-system” concept which states that although separate from each other, a home’s windows, doors, exterior walls, insulation, foundation, heating and cooling system, air-tightness and ventilation operate as a system. A change to one component will have an effect on another. This allows for greater design flexibility and optimization of the budget.

Air tightness testing using a Blower Door

A Blower door can be used to check how air-tight a structure is. It is designed to check for air leaks in walls, attics, and mechanical penetrations. While a blower door test does not evaluate how well a structure is insulated, it can reveal drafty walls and air-bypass situations that could undermine otherwise well insulated wall assemblies. A poorly sealed houses will have higher utility bills, issues with comfort, and potential mold an rot issues caused by moisture, potentially causing damage and deterioration of the building and leading to costly investigations and repairs..

Blower door tests are included with all energy assessments and can be carried out on residential homes, commercial structures, and industrial buildings.

By using energy modelling software and air tightness testing, a home’s overall energy performance can be determined and compared to the required standard.

In addition to the standard Blower door test we also do an Infra red thermal scan with the blower door running. Thermal videography is used to locate and identify air leaks and poorly insulated area in the building. This is a powerful method that will help the advisor and building owners to develop a stategy to improve building envelope tightness, proper ventilation, reduce energy usage and increase occupant comfort and health.

The Heat Pump Coaching Service

Currently we are taking part in a national pilot project that is testing this service. This service can be combined with a Pre Retrofit Energy Assessment and will be free of charge to a limmited number of home owners. Please enquire to receive this service if you are considering the upgrade of your forced air furnace to an Air Source Heat Pump.

This service will help you and your heating contractor select the right heat pump for your house and avoid problems associated with rule-of-thumb sizing.

We will collect information not normally collected by heating contractors and provide the following to you:

• A heat gain/loss calculation indicating the peak heating and cooling requirements of your building, using the CSA F280 Standard
• Assessing the electric panel to understand the capacity available for a significant new load like a heat pump
• Measurement of the air flow capacity of the ductwork – critical for maximizing the effectiveness of your heat pump without exceeding the ductwork’s capacity.

Benefits to the homeowner

• Avoiding expensive, unnecessary electric panel upgrades
• Getting the right-sized heat pump for the heating and cooling needs of your house
• Improving thermal comfort
• Maximizing your energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions
• Avoiding expensive oversized equipment purchases
• Ensuring quiet operation based on duct testing data