A free online service now makes it possible for local homeowners to quickly assess how their single-family homes fare in terms of energy efficiency. The pilot project with Properate.io is being offered in partnership with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen as part of a joint effort to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions.
Residents can enter a house address at rdos.properate.io to receive a custom property report in less than five minutes. This uses BC Assessment data to calculate a home’s energy efficiency rating, providing a sliding scale with red being the least efficient and dark green being net zero. All Penticton properties are also automatically charted on a map, where anyone can search by address or neighbourhood. Visit penticton.ca/home-energy-savings for details.
“As part of the City’s Community Climate Action Plan, roughly 2.25 per cent of houses each year throughout Penticton will need to be retrofitted to meet our community emission reduction target for 2050,” said David Kassian, Community Sustainability Coordinator. “This partnership with the RDOS is one more step in the right direction toward helping homeowners identify how they can improve their properties to become more energy efficient.”
The report also provides suggestions of potential upgrades with estimated costs that can improve the property’s energy rating, such as installing new windows, heat pumps or improving insulation, with results dependent on a home's age, materials and location. Reports also provide links to government rebates and incentives to help fund related improvements.
Benefits to improving the energy efficiency of your home include:
- Reduce your household energy bills.
- Increase your home comfort, providing warmer or cooler temperatures.
- Create less impact on the environment.
- Increase your property value.
Take part in a neighbourhood pilot project
The RDOS is looking for groups of three or more houses to take part in neighbourhood pilot projects. The RDOS can help support your efforts as part of a cost-savings pilot project. If you’re interested in learning more, or to start working together with neighbours on energy efficiency action, visit the RDOS Regional Connections webpage for Penticton at bit.ly/penticton-forum.