Your questions answered.
EnerGuide Home Evaluations
Q: Are there any rebates available?
YES! There are a lot of rebates available at the moment. Check out the Greener Homes Grant and CleanBC Better Homes to see what’s available in your area.
Q: How do I access a $40,000 interest-free loan?
That’s a great question and we’ve written a whole article on it here.
Q: What is the total amount available in rebates?
You could get up to $17,000 of rebates for switching your heating system to a heat pump in the City of Vancouver!
The total available through the Canada Greener Homes Grant is $5,600. This is the total amount available across all upgrades, not per upgrade installed.
The CleanBC Better Homes program offers a range of rebate amounts depending on what upgrades are installed. It also rewards completing three or more upgrades with a bonus rebate of up to $2,000.
Your municipality might also be offering some top-up rebates.
Ask us and we’ll be happy to guide you through the different programs.
Q: Who is responsible for applying for rebates?
Homeowners are responsible for all applications for existing home rebates through both the CleanBC and the Canada Greener Homes grant rebate programs, but we are here to assist with any guidance or advice so that you can maximize your savings.
Q: Can I get rebates for renovations or upgrades I have recently installed?
Sadly, not if you haven’t had a pre-retrofit EnerGuide Evaluation prior to starting the renovations. EnerGuide Evaluations must be performed before ANY energy upgrades are completed in order for you to receive the rebates.
Q: Do I need a pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation?
Yes, if :
- You are interesting in improving the energy performance of your home through one of our Plans.
- You are planning to apply for the Canada Greener Homes Grant.
- You want to benefit from the CleanBC rebates.
- You are planning to renovate your home or laneway in the City of Vancouver and the total cost of the renovation exceeds $20,000.
No, if you are replacing fixtures, cabinets, and flooring, painting the interior of your home or carrying out non-structural maintenance or minor repairs to the exterior of your home, or doing renovations outside of the City of Vancouver. However, having a pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation done on your home is the first step to improving its overall efficiency and feel the many benefits of energy upgrades.
Q: What does a pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation involve?
The EnerGuide evaluation is carried out by an Energy Advisor who is registered with Natural Resources Canada. Your Energy Advisor will arrive at your home on the date and time you’ve arranged. The Energy Advisor will measure and collect data about all of the elements of your home that impact its energy performance starting at the exterior of your home and then moving on to the interior, including the mechanical systems and the attic. Towards the end of the evaluation, the Energy Advisor will perform a blower door test to determine the airtightness of your home. The whole process takes about 2 hours.
Q: Do I need a post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation?
Yes if :
- You are planning to apply for The Canada Greener Homes Grant
- You want to benefit from the CleanBC rebates
- You are planning to renovate your home or laneway in the City of Vancouver and the total cost of the renovation exceeds $20,000.
No if you are not interested in rebates and/or have started your renovation without having done a pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation first. Most rebates are contingent on doing both the pre-retrofit and the post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluations.
Q: What does a post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation involve?
The post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation is very similar to the pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation. It is carried out by an Energy Advisor who is registered with Natural Resources Canada. Your Energy Advisor will arrive at your home on the date and time you’ve arranged. The Energy Advisor will measure and collect data about all of the elements of your home that impact its energy performance starting at the exterior of your home and then moving on to the interior, including the mechanical systems and the attic. Towards the end of the evaluation, the Energy Advisor will perform a blower door test to determine the airtightness of your home. The whole process takes about 2 hours.
Q: Why do I need to evaluate my whole home if I am only changing one component? Eg: windows, or heating system.
An EnerGuide Home Evaluation follows the guidelines laid out by the EnerGuide Rating system (ERS). To comply with those guidelines, the whole house needs to be assessed.
Q: Can I fail my post retrofit evaluation?
No, there is no pass or fail. The post-retrofit evaluation confirms what new components are present and assesses the performance of the home with the new changes or components included.
Q: What does my ACH score mean?
ACH stands for Air Changes per Hour. ACH is a metric used to determine how much air leaks out of your house. Relatedly, it represents how much energy the house loses in the form of warm air escaping.
More technically, if you have 1 air change per hour (ACH) at a forced air pressure difference of 50Pa, that means that ALL of the air in your house leaks out of it ONCE every hour.
Comfortable homes are airtight, so the lower the ACH score, the better.
Q: Does my ACH score matter for rebates?
Only if you are seeking rebates through the Canada Greener Homes program specifically for air sealing. That being said, it is always good practice to keep the ACH score as low as possible. Airtightness is one of the key elements of an energy efficient home.
Q: Will a heat pump save me money on my heating bill?
This can be a simple or a complex question to answer depending on what heating system you currently use and if the heat pump install is being combined with any other renovation. A heat pump will always be more efficient than a typical gas or electric heating system, however, it is important to combine the use of a heat pump with energy efficiency upgrades in order to keep the heat in. Heat pumps are an essential part of any sustainable heating and cooling solution for housing in Canada and the benefits to the environment are unquestionable. Talk to your Energy Advisor for more information.
BC Energy Step Code
Q: Which Step of the BC Energy Step Code should I build to?
Depending on where you build, different Step Code levels are required. You can decide to meet the minimum requirements or go beyond and target upper steps. We’ll assist you to find the optimal solution that fits your aspirations and budget. Note that Step 3 is now required Province-wide and that up to $15,000 of rebates are available for upper steps of the BC Energy Step Code. Check out the CleanBC Better Homes website here for more information on the rebates.
Q: What is a blower door test?
A blower door is a big red and yellow fan that we set up on the front door of your home to determine how much air is entering or escaping from your home. When we perform a blower door test, the fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside. Air leakages then flow in through all unsealed gaps, cracks, and openings of the building envelope.
Q: What happens if the airtightness target is not met at mid-construction?
A fail at mid-construction means that the build is not on track to meeting the Step Code target and won’t be approved by the building inspector. It can delay trades and be costly. We try our best to avoid this situation by giving you expert tips on airtightness from day 1. Find great resources to design and build for airtightness in the BC Housing library here.
Q: Are there any rebates available?
YES! There are a lot of rebates available at the moment. Check out the CleanBC Better Homes website to see what’s available in your area.
Q: Who is responsible for applying for new Home rebates?
New home rebates through the CleanBC program are submitted by the Energy Advisor at the time of the home’s completion. Note: The Energy Advisor must specify who the recipient of the rebate will be (eg: homeowner or builder).
Q: What is the total amount available in rebates?
The CleanBC Better Homes program offers a range of rebate amounts depending on how the home will be heated and what performance metrics it achieves. Ask us and we’ll be happy to help you navigate the different options!
Q: What does my ACH score mean?
ACH stands for Air Changes per Hour. ACH is a metric used to determine how much air leaks out of your house. Relatedly, it represents how much energy the house loses in the form of warm air escaping.
More technically, if you have 1 air change per hour (ACH) at a forced air pressure difference of 50Pa, that means that ALL of the air in your house leaks out of it ONCE every hour.
Comfortable homes are airtight, so the lower the ACH score, the better.
Vancouver Building By-Law 2022
Q: Which path should I choose to build a new home in the City of Vancouver?
It is important to consider your trades’ level of comfort with some high-performance features before making this decision. Based on our experience, the Performance Path provides more design flexibility than the Prescriptive or Passive House paths since it looks at the overall energy use and emissions intensity from the whole building, rather than evaluating each component on its own.
Q: What is the final airtightness target for the new 2022 VBBL?
The final airtightness target is 2.5 ACH @ 50Pa or lower for 1&2 Family Dwellings and 1.7 cm2/m2 NLA or lower for coach and laneway homes (less than 1,200 sq ft).
Q: What is the difference between the VBBL and the BC Energy Step Code?
The BC Energy Step Code is a part of the BC Building Code. It provides an incremental and consistent approach to achieving more energy-efficient buildings across BC. The City of Vancouver sets its own building efficiency standards, with its own Building By-law (VBBL). In 2018, the city aligned its approach with the BC Energy Step Code. Today, a home built in the City of Vancouver is comparable to a Step 4 home.
Q: Are there any rebates available?
YES! There are a lot of rebates available at the moment. Check out the CleanBC Better Homes website to see what’s available in your area.
Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WB-LCA)
Q: What are Embodied Emissions?
Embodied Emissions (also called Embodied Carbon) are the emissions released from the extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, and decommissioning of building materials.
Q: What is a Life Cycle Assessment?
A Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a product, process, or service, from the acquisition of raw materials until its end of life (“from cradle to grave”).
Q: Why are Embodied Emissions important?
Unlike operational carbon emissions, which can be reduced over time with energy efficiency upgrades and the use of renewable energy, embodied carbon emissions are locked in place as soon as a building is built. As we build more energy-efficient homes with low-carbon fuels, Embodied Emissions represent a bigger portion of the emissions pie (up to 90% for an electrically heated Step 5 home!) and become an increasingly pressing issue.
Q: Are there any rebates available for low-carbon homes?
Not yet, but if you are building in the City of Vancouver, the Low-carbon homes program (Link when available) (first of its kind in North America) offers to cover some of your initial costs, if there are any. Carbon Wise is the first consulting firm to provide both Energy Efficiency services and Life Cycle Assessments taking into account the synergies between the two. We can help with your application.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Q: What is an EPD?
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a transparent, objective report that communicates what a product is made of and how it impacts the environment across its entire life cycle.
Q: How do EPDs bring a competitive advantage to my business?
As local governments implement Buy Clean Procurement Policies, having an EPD could determine whether or not your product is selected for large-scale projects.
The data provided by your EPD enables you to measure your own environmental performance and to see how you compare to your competitors, so you can showcase areas where your product excels.
Q: Do I need an EPD?
If you ask us… yes! The data provided by your EPD enables you to better understand your product’s whole-life impacts so then you can identify ways to optimize your manufacturing processes, gain a competitive advantage, and showcase areas where your product excels. It leaves you better prepared to meet growing low-carbon market demands.
Q: What’s the difference between LCA and EPD?
An EPD (environmental product declaration) is a document that presents the environmental performance of a product. EPDs are a formal and internationally recognized way to present these impacts. Life Cycle Assessment is the method that calculates the impact data that supports the EPD.
Hourly Consultation
Q: What type of consultation do you do?
At Carbon Wise, we are dedicated to supporting our colleagues to achieve healthier, more durable, and cost-effective buildings. If you need a peer review or an experienced eye on something don’t hesitate to ask for help, no matter how small the request. We know, sometimes a detail can make a big difference, and sometimes hesitancy can lead to bigger problems to fix down the line.
