Retrofit Your Home and Qualify for a Grant!

Retrofit Your Home and Qualify for a Grant!

 

Thinking of ways to make your home more energy efficient? Here's what you can do to reduce your energy consumption and receive grants through ecoENERGY Retrofit.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is offering a new residential energy efficiency assessment service to owners of single family homes, including detached, semi-detached and low-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) that are no more than three storeys high. Under the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, property owners can qualify for federal grants by improving the energy efficiency of their homes and reducing their home's impact on the environment.

NRCan-certified energy advisors conduct a detailed on-site assessment of your home's energy use from the attic down to the basement. They then provide you with a personalized report, including a checklist of recommended retrofits to improve the energy efficiency of your home or MURB and, in some cases, to reduce water consumption. The report also shows the grant amounts for each eligible upgrade that you can receive by carrying out these energy-saving improvements.

On the following pages, you will find a list of improvements covered under ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes and the corresponding grant amounts. The maximum grant you can receive for a home or MURB is $5,000.

The grant is calculated and based on amounts that are in effect at the time of the post-retrofit evaluation (E evaluation).

Effective January 1, 2008

House Renovation

Assessing the Renovation Project

Over the years, we’ve developed a good understanding of how buildings perform. Construction techniques for new homes have changed rapidly. Most of these improved techniques also apply to renovations.

If you plan carefully, you can renovate your home to make it look better, work better, last longer and be more comfortable. Before renovating, it’s important to assess the condition of your home to determine if there are any significant underlying problems that must be addressed before or during your planned renovation project.

Figure 1: Problems that should be addressed

Common Situations

In Canada, we need affordable houses to provide shelter from the elements. We also want our homes to be pleasant, comfortable and attractive.

Homeowners have higher expectations than in the past, particularly about comfort and interior design. Renovations are an opportunity to address some of these expectations.

Some of the reasons people decide to renovate are to:

• Upgrade or improve outdated or deteriorated systems — replacing an outdated furnace, old siding or windows are common upgrades.
• Maintain and repair various elements of their house — reshingling a roof or fixing foundation cracks are typical renovations.
• Address lifestyle needs — converting unused attic space to living quarters, add a sunroom or build a home office.

Healthy Housing™

Renovating is an ideal time to make your house healthier for you, the community and the environment. When assessing your renovation project, be sure to consider the five essentials of Healthy Housing™.

House as a System

A house is much more than just four walls and a roof — it’s an interactive system made up of many components including the basic structure, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, the external environment and the occupants. Each component influences the performance of the entire system. A renovation provides an opportunity to improve how your house performs.

As you assess your renovation project, ask yourself how changing particular components will affect the performance of the whole house. For example, as part of a bathroom renovation you may want to add a hot tub that will generate large amounts of humidity during operation.Your existing ventilation may be inadequate to handle the increased moisture levels. It will be important to provide proper ventilation to avoid mold growth, indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and damage to the structure or finishes. You may need to consult with a qualified home inspector or a professional renovator.

Avoid Surprises

A systematic and thorough inspection will help you to assess the condition of your home. Look for any signs of deterioration and the possible causes. Start your inspection in the basement. Many problems in other parts of the house originate there. Depending upon the size of your project, you may want to ask a qualified home inspector or a professional renovator to help you assess your building and develop a plan. Here are some of the likely questions that you’ll want to think about.

 

Ontario builders seek relief in budget

Ontario builders seek relief in budget

TORONTO STAR GRAPHIC

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TONY WONG 
BUSINESREPORTER

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's top priorities in the upcoming 2009 budget should be job creation and infrastructure projects in an effort to stave off a devastating slowdown in the economy, according to the province's property developers.

A survey by the Ontario Home Builders' Association found more than a third of builders expect to lay off staff for 2009.

"People will continue to work and we can ensure adequate roads, transit and residential services are upgraded and expanded," OHBA president Frank Giannone said.

Job creation, infrastructure spending and personal and corporate tax reductions were the top three priorities identified by home builders. A balanced budget was in fourth place. Financing in tight credit markets was another issue.

About 47 per cent of home builders surveyed said availability of financing was down. A third also said they had difficulty financing new home and renovation projects.

Meanwhile, separate reports released yesterday show the housing market hasn't hit bottom yet.

"Issues affecting the overall economy are impacting housing markets across the country and the situation is not expected to be remedied until consumer confidence is restored," ReMax Ontario Atlantic Canada executive vice-president Michael Polzler stated in a report.

ReMax is forecasting average prices across Canada will fall 3 per cent this year and 2 per cent next year to $293,000.

Other forecasters however, are taking a gloomier view.

Carl Gomez, vice-president of research for real estate consultants Bentall Investment Management, said prices have to fall nationally by at least 10 per cent from their peak to return to normal valuations. In Alberta and British Columbia, where prices have gone up a lot quicker than the national average, values may have to fall by as much as 30 per cent. However, prices may fall further than that as the market seeks to correct itself, Gomez stated in a report released this week.

"All markets in Canada are facing deteriorating economic conditions that are likely to either accelerate or cause a larger than required cumulative decline in house prices."

Prices in Ontario are about 10 per cent overvalued, but could fall further depending on economic conditions, Gomez stated.

"The recent deterioration of macro economic conditions and the potential for deflation to affect all asset prices in the current environment could potentially result in Ontario home prices falling by even more than the expected 10 per cent," Gomez stated.

Globally, Canada is in better shape than other industrialized countries because home prices increased far more moderately, by about 80 per cent between 1997 and 2008, according to the report.

By contrast, Britain and Spain saw increases of 200 per cent in the same period. United States house prices jumped 190 per cent between 1997 and 2006 before crashing in 2007.

Another, tough-minded report yesterday by the Center for Economic Policy and Research in Washington says U.S. house prices must fall further to stabilize the market.

"Prices in many markets are still hugely out of line with trend levels," it said.

"As long as house price remains inflated there is no way that the market can stabilize since there will continue to be a large excess supply."

The best way to stabilize house prices is to deflate the bubbles by allowing government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refuse to buy mortgages in markets in which house prices are out of line, said the U.S. report. ."

Ontario homeowners are showing more enthusiasm for home renovations, according to a new RBC survey

TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- RY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Ontario homeowners are showing more enthusiasm for home renovations, according to a new RBC survey. The poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid, found that 71 per cent of Ontarians surveyed plan to renovate within the next two years, just above the national average of 70 per cent and up five percentage points from 2007. Of those polled, 75 per cent said that if their homes were in need of major renovations, they would still rather assume the work themselves, than sell and move.
"Despite the current economic uncertainty, we can expect to see a moderate increase in renovation activity in Ontario over the next couple years," says Catherine Adams, vice-president, Home Equity Financing. "For those making renovation plans, it's important to carefully consider all the potential costs involved, obtain quotes, look for the best financing options and set a realistic budget that you'll be able to stick to."

Among homeowners who have completed renovation projects in the last two years, the poll found that 67 per cent of respondents in Ontario had a budget for their renovations. Of those, 46 per cent said they went over budget, by an average of 25 per cent. In fact, Ontarians were more likely than homeowners in other regions to say going over budget was their biggest renovation mistake or disaster (28 per cent). Despite budget overages, the majority of Ontarians (72 per cent) are likely to pay for most or all of their renovations with cash or savings.

The average amount that Ontario homeowners plan to spend on their renovations is also up over last year from $10,489 to $12,306 - well above the national average of $10,853 and just shy of Alberta ($12,420) which has the largest average budget spend in the country.

The most popular choices for renovations and home improvements among Ontarians include new floors (42 per cent), bathrooms (40 per cent), and exterior landscaping (36 per cent). Kitchen counter tops (30 per cent) and decks and patios (26 per cent) were also among the most likely makeover choices.

Eco-friendly renovations

More than three-quarters of Ontario homeowners (78 per cent) would choose an environmentally-friendly approach if it would save money in the long run, even if it costs more now. Of those polled, 56 per cent would consider "living off the grid" - living in a self sufficient manner without reliance on public utilities, while 67 per cent of Ontario homeowners would consider becoming 'net zero' household, enabling their homes to produce at least as much energy as they use. The majority of Ontarians (78 per cent) believe that 'green' improvements would increase the value of their home.

<< Intentions among Regions Average Spend ------------------------ ------------- Ontario 71% $12,306 BC 69% $10,064 Alberta 74% $12,422 Sask/Man 71% $ 9,743 Quebec 67% $ 8,463 Atlantic Canada 73% $10,042 Renovate or Sell/Move --------------------- Region Renovate Sell Ontario 75% 19% BC 75% 19% Alberta 71% 23% Sask/Man 75% 17% Quebec 74% 17% Atlantic Canada 78% 15% >>

These are some of the findings of an RBC poll conducted by Ipsos Reid between August 13 and August 18, 2008. The online survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 3,733 adult Canadian homeowners, including 1,423 Ontario residents. With a representative sample of this size for Ontario, the results are considered accurate to within 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Ontario been polled. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2006 census data.