Ottawa measures energy efficiency in Iqaluit

MIRIAM HILL

With his long white hair and black equipment cases, Ross Elliot could be mistaken for a musician.

He and two others knock on the door of an Iqaluit home and go inside. But they are not there to play instruments, they are there to read them.

Elliot is one of two specialists contracted by Natural Resources Canada to conduct tests on about 60 homes in Iqaluit this week. The homes will be rated on their energy efficiency and a report issued showing where improvements can be made.

This evaluation, called Energuide for Houses, comes from the Office of Energy Efficiency under the federal department of natural resources.

The evaluation is only done on single-family dwellings, or ones that are side-by-side.

By improving the energy efficiency of buildings, this evaluation is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact of low-rise housing.

This increased energy efficiency can also mean saved dollars for homeowners and property managers who will spend less money on fuel.

Elliot takes equipment from a variety of round and rectangular cases and assembles a black frame that fits the doorway. He attaches it to a large red piece of material that is then inserted where the door was.

This material, which is strong enough to keep the cold out on a -32 C day, billows a bit with the wind. Three gauges hang by hoses to a large fan fitted into the new red material door.

Elliot turns the fan on and begins the blower door test. As air is sucked from the house, a vacuum is created, and this causes outside air to be sucked in through any leaks.

The gauges measure the pressure and the data they collect is recorded and entered into a computer program, which eventually generates an EnerGuide rating for the home.

A report accompanies the rating and gives suggestions of what building owners can do to cut costs, as well as give an estimate of how much renovations would cost.

Factors like the number of people living in a house and their ages can be taken into account in the report, but, for the rating, all houses are treated equally.

Raynald Charest, with the office of energy efficiency, says the rating – between 1 and 100, with “100” meaning the building is completely powered by solar energy – has the same meaning as an EnerGuide label on appliances like washing machines and dryers. According to this rating system, a house rated “50” is not as energy-efficient as a house with an “80” rating.

The energy used in Nunavut, whether it is from burning fuel or from electricity derived from fuel, releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. While reducing these emissions is good for the environment, it can also be lucrative for building owners.

Neither Nunavut nor the Northwest Territories has offered EnerGuide for houses before, although this evaluation service is already available in the Yukon.

The Yukon Housing Authority offers better mortgage rates if a building receives a higher EnerGuide rating and some utilities, especially in the U.S., have also shown interest in giving energy credit transfers to customers who increse their energy efficiency.

After the blower test is completed, Elliot walks through the home checking for drafts. He reappears to get his flashlight and says he’s going to check out the attic.

Public Works Canada and Natural Resources Canada are spending about $12,000 to have about 60 rental units rated in Iqaluit. Charest says he hopes a local delivery agent can be found to do ratings on other units in the future.

In the South, where the program has been running for years, Natural Resources Canada buys the data collected from delivery agents like Elliot for $150. Data collected in the Yukon costs them about $225.

Steve Cook, general manager of the property company Nunastar, says the EnerGuide rating program is a good idea and he could see it being used in Nunastar’s White Row units in Iqaluit.

“We know some of the things that need to be done because of the age of construction,” Cook says of increasing energy efficiency in those units.

But it’s the question of how long it will take for the company to recoup the cost of renovations with energy savings that remains hanging.

“Because of the nature of communal heating,” Cook explains, “the fuel costs don’t always get passed on to the tenant in a reasonable fashion if they’re under lease.”

So the company ends up picking up any increased costs.

“If we were bidding on units to lease out to the government, for example, and we were able to maximize our energy savings that would be passed on we would be able to be more competitive in our pricing,” Cook says.