The Home Builder's Guide to EnerGuide

Published on November 09, 2018

As home buyers continue looking for money-saving and environmentally friendly homes, the demand for EnerGuide builders will continue to rise. This means that it is more important than ever for home builders to work with a licenced service organization - such as Barrier Sciences Group - and choose which energy efficiency initiative is best suited for their needs. By working with BSG, a home builder is also able to validate the quality of their builds through an impartial and separate company.

What an Energy Efficient Home Looks Like

An energy efficient home can look like any home, regardless of when it was built; as retrofits and renovations can transform a leaky old home into an airtight and efficient one. As an EnerGuide builder, you are able to build new homes to exceed the higher demands of energy efficiency that are present today, and provide your new homeowners with a well built, efficient, and low-emission home.

Some of the energy saving strategies that may go into an energy efficient home include: an airtight construction, high levels of insulation, energy efficient appliances, led lighting, and high-performance windows. These strategies are also able to be used in homes that have already been built, helping to improve home efficiency and help the homeowner become applicable for currently-available home renovation rebates.

How EnerGuide Can Help Your Business

EnerGuide builders can provide a service to new homeowners that other home builders cannot. As they are capable of building to high levels of energy efficiency, EnerGuide builders are able to provide their clients with a cost-effective and low carbon footprint home. This not only increases your value to the client as a home builder, it also opens you up to more business opportunities, as you can now assist new homeowners build their efficient dream home.

Working with a company like Barrier Sciences Group, and having a Registered Energy Advisor conduct Home Energy Assessments and/or Air Tightness Tests during and after construction, can be beneficial in monitoring how the sub trades are performing, and ensuring that everything in the new home is built to plan. This provides more than just peace of mind to you as a home builder, it can also supply you with information to provide to the homeowner, showing that everything is on track and that the home will meet or exceed its desired efficiency levels.

An Air Tightness Test is able to reduce callbacks from homebuyers, as it allows home builders to find any issues before they become a problem.This ensures a high-level of build quality and energy efficiency both during and after construction, and continues your reputation as a consistent and effective home builder.

EnerGuide is also able to offer home builders a marketing edge, as being an EnerGuide builder indicates that you are an industry leader and are able to meet consumer demand for energy efficiency, as well as providing you with national recognition, as your company will be listed on NRCan’s website for helping homeowners find a certified home builder. Certified EnerGuide builders also have access to a members-only web portal with NRCan marketing materials, which can be used to provide enticing efficiency-related information to your consumers.

Benefits of EnerGuide for Homeowners

Homeowners are always happy to save money. An energy efficient home built by a certified EnerGuide builder is capable of providing the homeowner with: low utility bills, high levels of interior comfort, and a lower impact on the environment. Combined, these benefits are also able to greatly increase the resale value of a home, as they are highly sought after attributes in today’s housing market. Even less-efficient homes that voluntarily equip their home with an EnerGuide Label are often able to see an increase in resale value.

Benefits for Home Builders

These benefits to homeowners are part of what makes becoming an EnerGuide builder so attractive. Our social climate is shifting further towards green energy and efficiency solutions, and being prepared as a homebuilder to accommodate future market needs and demands allows you to stay on top of what is current, and what is in the future for energy efficient homes.

This means that by contacting Barrier Sciences Group or another licensed service organization, a homebuilder is capable of improving the demand and capability of their services, as well as helping to reduce the amount of callbacks from homebuyers they receive. Peace of mind for both you and your consumers is capable through the simple act of having a Registered Energy Advisor conduct an Air Tightness Test during and after the construction process, ensuring that no air leaks have been created as a result of subcontracted work, and that the home meets the desired levels of energy efficiency.  

The Canada Greener Homes Grant offers home efficiency renovation grants up to $5,000.

Homeowners Canada-wide are eligible for the Canada Greener Homes Grant, announced on May 27, 2021. This new incentive offers up to $5,000 in grants for home efficiency retrofit renovations, plus a $600 reimbursement for pre- and post-work EnerGuide evaluations. Eligible retrofit scopes include home insulation, heating, doors, windows, photovoltaic solar panels, resiliency measures, and thermostats.

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