Increase Your Property Value

Step 1: Complete the Energy Audit

Make an Appointment with your Advisor

Call 416-203-3106 to make an appointment for a GEA or GHA audit (please see Home Energy Audits), with a Green$aver advisor. Or, send in our contact page with three preferred dates for a visit by an advisor. A Green$aver representative will call back to confirm your appointment.

Get Ready...

Before your appointment, there a few things you can do that help us do a thorough examination. In your home, please:

• Close all windows (storm doors included)
• Clean out all fireplaces that have been used
• Close all fireplace dampers
• Ensure your attic access is clear to be used to get up into the roof & attic areas
• Seal your window air conditioner with tape (or remove it from the window)
• Ensure all pets are are safely in your backyard. The sound from some of our fan equipment may be disturbing for the brief period they are running in your house.
• Make a list of problems/complaints you have about the comfort of your home such as drafts, indoor air quality problems, water damage, roof ice dams
• List all recent upgrades you or the past homeowner made to your house. If you have pictures during the construction phase of the upgrades, or detailed plans, these may be helpful to the advisor.
• Tell us about any future plans you have for upgrading your house. If you share your budget with us we can help you to prioritize your upgrades in sequence so as to maximize on energy efficiency.

In addition to these, if you have an office in a house, please ensure all rooms are accessible and major vents and most wall sockets are not blocked.

Utility Bills

If we are doing an Electricity Audit, please have photocopies of your recent hydro and gas bills from your local utility ready for our visit.

Tenant Notification

If you have tenants, since we need to access every area of the house, please provide them with written notice of our upcoming visit at least 24 hours in advance.

The Energy Audit

At your appointment, your Green$aver advisor will examine your energy use. Depending on the level of service (please see Home Energy Audits), this means we may look inside and outside the house, from the basement to the attic. We may check the furnace, hot water heater, HVAC system, radiators, exhaust fans and thermostats. We may examine overhangs, baseboards, sockets, fans, duct work, vents and air return to assess how air is moving through the house. Then we'll review the condition of the doors and windows, condensation evidence like mold and mildew, and the insulation levels throughout the house.

Technology-guided Assessment & Rating

A computerized blower door and other measurement devices identify energy leakages, the quality of seals and where your energy dollars are being spent. These are areas of potential energy efficiency improvement.

Unless we are just doing a GER (please see Home Energy Audits), the information gathered during the assessment is entered into a computer program and you'll receive a customized Green$aver Energy Plan that summarizes the energy efficiency of the house, and the improvements that would result in the most energy savings. Your Green$aver advisor will review your report and discuss energy saving solutions with you. On average, you could save up to 30 per cent on heating and cooling costs.

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Step 2: Do the Right Work

The recommendations in your Green$aver Energy Plan are prioritized, starting with solutions to any problem areas you cited to your advisor, such as cold rooms or drafts. The recommendations at the top of the list are those that will improve the energy efficiency of the house the most.

If professional assistance is needed to get work done, Green$aver will be happy to quote insulation and draftproofing retrofits. For EGH audits (please see Home Energy Audits), Green$aver always recommends that you get at least three competitive quotes from contractors before deciding whom to use. For help, please call 416-203-3106.

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Step 3: Get Proof of Energy Savings

After completing as many renovation recommendations as possible, Green$aver will conduct a second assessment so you know how effective the changes have been. This visit should take less than an hour. Please review Green$aver's Bulletin to see if you've done all you can do to maximize your energy savings before we reassess using blower door technology. If the retrofit was done through Green$aver, this final inspection will be free (and very brief). If other contractors were used, we will have to do a more comprehensive final Inspection at an additional cost, and issue the Green$aver label. If you are undertaking an EGH audit, please see Home Energy Audits).

Once the GEA or GHA energy saving measures have been implemented (please see Home Energy Audits), we will issue an "Energy Green$aver Home" label, with an option of installing a small plaque on the outside of the house which will clearly identify this (for an extra cost). For those seeking to make their house more attractive in the resale market, US studies show that homeowners who produced a valid assessment report, like the one provided by Green$aver, realized an average increase of 2-5 %, when selling their property. With Toronto following real estate trends reported in the U.S., home resale values are increasing by about $20 for every $1 decrease in annual fuel costs that were realized after improvements recommended in an energy efficiency audit were made. This increase in home value was in addition to the expected benefits of preferential financing and positive cash flow homeowners realized. In addition, Green$aver is actively working with real estate participants to ensure that these improvements get their just economic recognition.

Improvements that Do Save Energy

Not all improvements to a house result in better energy efficiency. The most effective have proven to be:

• Insulating walls and the attic,
• Insulating and sealing the basement,
• Changing the furnace to a higher efficiency unit, and/or
• Sealing in the areas cited in the recommendations section of your Green$aver Energy Plan.

A trained professional using blower-door technology will help to take the guess work out of not only identifying where problems are, but also ensuring sealing solutions are accurate. Such effective results ensure that the improvements made will help you to achieve a higher energy efficiency rating. For more information resources, see Green$aver's Energy Improvement Bulletins

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