Ottawa Real Estate Blog - by Karen Cayer (613)-721-5341

Fact: an energy-efficient home saves its owners money every day, by reducing the cost of utilities needed to run that home. Newer windows and better insulation allows less heat to escape; low-flow showerheads and toilets use less water. A side benefit, of course, is that energy-efficient homes produce ewer harmful emissions and use less fossil fuel.

With many people concerned about saving money on energy costs and being considerate of the environment, you can provide a great service to your clients (whether they’re buying or selling) by informing them about the federal government’s ecoEnergy Retrofit program. This grant program can be invaluable to homeowners who want to lower their current energy costs, or who are thinking of putting their home on the market soon, and who know that many buyers are attracted to efficient homes.

Here’s how the ecoEnergy Retrofit program works:

The process begins with an energy audit of the home that must be conducted by a Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) licensed inspector. The Ontario government offers a subsidy for the audit, which costs an average of $300.

After the audit is complete, homeowners receive an itemized report that lists the retrofits that will improve their home’s energy efficiency, and advises them how much of a grant they would receive for each improvement. For example, installing a high-efficiency furnace comes with a grant of up to $500, while installing new windows is worth $30 per window. The program also includes grants for emerging technologies such as solar heating systems and water recovery (“grey water”) systems.

In addition to the grants offered by the federal government, the province of Ontario provides matching grants for many energy retrofits, and consumers can fill out just one form to apply for both provincial and federal grants.

Homeowners have eighteen months from the date of their audit to complete as many of the suggested retrofits as they wish. Once they are done, they may submit their grant application. The maximum grant from the federal government is $5000, and it is a one-time grant, so all of the improvements homeowners plan to make must be completed before applying for the grant.

In addition to the immediate cost benefit of the grants, homeowners who retrofit their homes will experience an average savings of 23 per cent annually on their energy bills, according to NRCan.

For more information about the ecoEnergy Retrofit program, visit http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/.