Photo: Contributed

You want to upgrade your home to increase efficiency, improve your comfort, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money at the same time.

You are just unsure of how to implement the most effective method, what discount incentives are available, and how much you would actually get in the end.

This is where Brendon Gray and Kelowna’s Egnite Sustainability will come in and make the process easy to understand. Egnite offers energy efficiency consulting services that will set the stone rolling in your quest for greater performance and efficiency.

Photo: Contributed

“As certified energy consultants licensed by National Resources Canada, we provide EnerGuide home appraisals and renovation upgrade reports that list potential upgrade options available to homeowners,” says Gray.

Egnite comes to your home and carries out an on-site assessment, after which your home is awarded an EnerGuide assessment. The lower, the better for the environment and your wallet.

“Detailed feedback is summarized in an easy-to-understand roadmap to help homeowners to be trained in the implementation of energetic renovation improvements in their home and to raise awareness if they would carry out these upgrades.

“Typically, we are trying to get an average of 30 to 50 percent energy improvement for the home from the reviews we conduct, and often homeowners see a range of $ 4,000 to $ 8,000 in home renovation discounts for doing that.”

Best of all, the province and the city of Kelowna both have discount incentives that cover between 50 and 75% of the EnerGuide home valuation costs.

After all, 40% of Kelowna’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Homes built before 2000 that run natural gas stoves and water heaters can typically emit up to five tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. The city’s goal, based on the provincial greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, is to retrofit 1,617 residential units per year to achieve a 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency in each of these units.

Egnite Sustainability will be attending the Kelowna Spring Home Show at Prospera Place on February 22nd and 23rd. Gray invites everyone to come by his booth to talk about energy efficiency at home and how to take advantage of the home discount incentives on offer.

Entrants can take part in a raffle to win a Nest Smart Programmable Thermostat and other freebies. Those unable to attend the home show can email Gray at [email protected]