The federal government’s Canada Greener Homes Grant is proving wildly popular after coming online less than a month ago.
The grant, which will draw upon a $2.6 billion pool and is targeting 700,000 homes nationwide over seven years, provides Canadians with up to $5,000 to make energy-efficient retrofits that follow EnerGuide evaluations to their homes.
The upgrades covered include building envelope insulation, air sealing, replacing windows and doors with energy-efficient units, and installing air or ground source heat pumps, which function better in colder climates.
The Canada Greener Homes Grant also covers renewable energy, which can involve installing photovoltaic panelling to regenerate electricity that’s used in the home, and in some cases is fed back into the grid.
Air sealing is certainly a low-cost energy upgrade that can dramatically improve comfort in the home and reduce energy consumption. Part of the EnerGuide evaluation is doing a test to depressurize the house to identify areas of home leakage. Basement insulation and adding more attic insulation are also quite popular. For a home that is re-siding, meaning it’s coming up to needing the siding replaced, adding rigid exterior insulation to the house has been popular, as are building envelope upgrades and heat pumps.
The Canada Greener Homes Grant is also being touted as a way to boost the economy by creating what the government says are 110,000 jobs.
The incentive for Canadians to take advantage of the program is that energy efficiency upgrades, in addition to creating a healthier environment, can augment home values.
Reference: https://cutt.ly/tn44dQL
Post a comment