by Mark Salerno - Sustainable Housing Expert, CMHC
There are many reasons and motivations for undertaking a renovation. It could be to maintain and repair. You may be retrofitting major components like a roof or a furnace.
No matter what your motivation, though, there's always an opportunity to actually improve the energy efficiency of your home.
Now if you plan to do that, the first thing you should do is get an energy audit. It's always a good recommendation to be on site with the auditor as they're walking through the house, you're able to see in real time what the options and opportunities are for retrofitting your home, what's going to get you the best bang for the buck, or maybe which ones are easier to do, and therefore you'll have a good sense of how you should set your priorities when you do go in fact undertake those renovations.
You're also at that time going to learn from your auditor what the associated rebates are, and that will obviously help you in making that decision.
But don't be concerned that you don't, you know, gather everything or learn everything there because they do provide a very useful report to you that sets out exactly how efficient your home is, but also it sets out a whole list of opportunities for you, and then�in terms of retrofits.
Now when you look at those options, they may be as simple as enhancing the air-tightness of your home. Sealing cracks. It may be adding insulation or replacing a furnace. Regardless, there are many benefits that can accrue from these various efforts. Certainly reducing operating costs, improving the indoor air quality of your home, enhancing the durability of your home, and also doing your part for the environment.
The only way that you can benefit from the available government rebates and incentives is by undertaking that energy audit. So it really needs to be a definite priority if you're planning energy efficient renovations.
Find out more at the RBC Advice Centre.
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