|
|
 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE GREEN (part 2)
|
| GREEN
REBATES |
Even
though the Energuide for Houses program was recently
cut by the federal government, several provincial
and municipal rebate programs encourage conservation:
• The
Ontario government’s Every Kilowatt Counts
provides a $500 rebate when homeowners replace their
outdated central air conditioner with an Energy
Star unit. There’s also a $50-rebate for a
tune-up on your old unit and a $75-rebate on the
supply and installation of a programmable thermostat.
Visit conservationbureau.on.ca.
• Manitoba
Hydro’s Power Smart furnace and boiler replacement
program offers a $245 credit on your natural gas
bill for the installation of a new Energy Star furnace
or boiler. And the Power Smart home insulation program
will rebate up to 100 per cent of your material
costs when you add insulation. Visit hydro.mb.ca
and click on “Saving With Power Smart.”
• Enbridge
Gas is offering all residential customers a $100
credit for upgrading their existing heating system
to a high-efficiency, natural gas, forced-air furnace
or boiler heating system. Customers of Enbridge
Gas in New Brunswick are eligible to receive a $600
incentive if they upgrade their home-heating system.
Call 800–268–5442 for more information.
• The
B.C. government offers an exemption from provincial
taxes for qualifying residential furnaces, boilers
and heat pumps. Call 877-388-4440 for more information.
• As
part of its Wash’n’Save program, the
City of Toronto offers residents a $60 rebate on
the purchase of a water-efficient clothes washer
and a rebate of up to $75 on the cost of a low-volume
toilet. Visit toronto.ca/watereff
for information on the city’s programs. |
|
Draft Dodgers
Not all green building choices require a special label. Retrofitting
energy-efficient homes almost always begins in the basement.
Heat seeks cold, so the first place it seeps out is through
your foundation wall. Before you spend time doubling up on insulation,
seal the holes and cracks. “Think of walking outside on
a cold, wet day in a wool sweater—sooner or later, the
heat will leave you,” says Crawford. “Wear two sweaters,
and the same thing happens. But put a windbreaker on, and the
heat stays in. The same is true of your home. Don’t spend
time and money insulating your home if it’s full of leaks.”
Caulking the leaky spots is simple; finding the exact spots
is a little more difficult. There are companies, such as GreenSaver
in Toronto, that will come to your house and do the searching
for you. “We depressurize the house so we can find the
exact spots that cause drafts,” says GreenSaver CEO and
president Vladan Veljovic. A GreenSaver energy audit costs $250.
Once the holes are sealed, it’s time to buy the insulation.
Veljovic prefers blown-in cellulose for its energy efficiency
and the materials it’s made from. “It depends on
the house, but in most cases, it’s much more efficient
than fibreglass insulation,” he says. The pricing is similar,
but blown-in cellulose carries extra benefits: it’s a
natural wood product, made from about 75 per cent recycled newspaper,
is fire-retardant and has a higher R-rating than most fibreglass
insulation.
|
1.
Energy-saving products | 2.
Retrofitting your home
3. Improving Indoor Air Quality
| 4. Conserving Water |
|
|
|
|
| FREE
NEWSLETTER |
Subscribe to our newsletter. Every few weeks, you'll get a behind-the-scenes
peek at the magazine, the web site and the folks who put it all together.
CLICK HERE |
|
|
PROJECTS
