Friday, April 22, 2016

Funds Available To Cut B.C. Home Energy Costs


Province investing in energy efficient homes

VICTORIA – Just ahead of Earth Day, the Government of British Columbia is announcing $1.4 million from the Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund for a suite of programs to help homeowners reduce energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions and to support training in the construction of high performance, energy efficient homes.

The funding will be distributed as follows:
$600,000 to provide rebates of up to $1,700 for homeowners to convert from oil heating to an all-electric air source heat pump. An oil-to-heat pump conversion provides, on average, the highest greenhouse gas emission reduction of any single upgrade for single family residential homes. This funding is in addition to $600,000 provided for the Oil-to-Heat Pump Incentive Program in 2015 and will ensure incentives continue to be available for homeowners to make the conversion from oil to electric heat pumps.


$600,000 to support the training and use of energy coaches who conduct home energy evaluations, identify opportunities for energy efficiency upgrades and explore retrofit options with homeowners. The funds will be directed through the joint BC HydroFortisBC Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) program and will be used to establish training for energy coaches and to provide a subsidy for homeowners to offset the cost of energy coaching services.

$100,000 to subsidize training for building professionals in Passive House design and construction. The international Passive House standard is the one of the most rigorous and advanced building performance standards in the world, achieving reductions in heating energy of up to 90%, compared to other buildings. This system of construction requires specialized training and experience. This funding is in addition to $100,000 provided for the Passive House Training Subsidy in 2015 and will help more builders, architects, engineers and municipal planning professionals take courses in Passive House principles.

$100,000 to subsidize courses offered by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) and service organizations licensed by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in three national high-performance building standards: ENERGY STAR for New Homes Initiative, R2000 and Net Zero Energy (NZE) Homes Builder Training. The funding will build on the Passive House training incentive by broadening provincial support to a range of high-performance building standards and help to increase the number of high-performance builders, homes and buildings in British Columbia.

The ICE Fund is designed to support government’s energy and environmental priorities and advance British Columbia’s clean energy sector. It receives funding through a 0.4% levy on the final sale of specified energy products such as natural gas, fuel oil and grid-delivered propane.


We’re into renovation season and this is an excellent time for homeowners to plan and complete improvements that will make their homes more energy efficient. With this round of funding from the Province’s Innovative Clean Energy Fund, we’re helping homeowners reduce their heating costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and helping builders get additional training to design and construct high performance, energy efficient homes and buildings.  Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines

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