Our Process

Our 3 Main Steps

INTRODUCTION: Advise the homeowner of what will be involved during our assessment.
DATA COLLECTION: Measure the heated area of the home, window counts, heating and cooling system collected, toilet counts, attic access, air leakage test.
REVIEW: Sit down with the homeowner and go over our recommendations, inform of timeframe to qualify for the grant and sign all appropriate forms.

The energy evaluation is an energy efficiency assessment only. It is not a detailed energy performance and heat loss audit, and it does not include a detailed consideration of the overall physical condition of the house. The intent is to rate the house and its permanent equipment, not the occupants or their lifestyle-related energy consumption.

Our Steps in More Detail

The advisor will carry out at least the following activities upon arriving at the home:

Introduce yourself to the homeowner, reiterate the scope and intent of the evaluation and general data collection process that you will be following both verbally and with other applicable NRCan consumer publications, and confirm the homeowner's concerns and priorities relating to their home.
Notify the homeowner the evaluation will be conducted first on the exterior of the home and then on the interior.
Inform the homeowner that photos of the exterior portion of the dwelling, mechanical systems, and wood-burning fireplaces, if present, will be taken during the evaluation and explain the photos are being taken for quality assurance purposes.
Advise the homeowner not to use hot water during the evaluation.
Advise the homeowner of the approximate duration of the on-site activities.
Notify the homeowner that several tools and other pieces of equipment are required to complete the evaluation and determine through which entry they should be brought into the home.
Confirm the locations of attic, basement/crawlspace accesses, mechanical equipment, etc. with the homeowner. If clear access has not been facilitated, request that the homeowner assist with providing safe and unobstructed access in these areas.
Confirm relevant information that is required on the data collection form such as homeowner's name, age of house, address (including postal code), and any of the homeowner's house-specific concerns.

Exterior Evaluation Activities

During the exterior part of the evaluation, the advisor must perform the following activities:

Start the process by taking photos of each exterior side of the dwelling (minimum of two photos). The photos will serve as the basis of your data collection.

Take measurements of the relevant exterior components of the home, including the width and depth or perimeter and area of the foundation footprint and each of the above-grade floor levels, in order to generate a relatively accurate representation of the home's geometry. It is extremely important to record this information. The advisor should do a separate count of all above-grade and basement windows and exterior doors on each side of the home and enter the information on the data collection form.

Interior Evaluation Activities

During the interior data collection portion of the on-site evaluation, the advisor must carry out the following:

Enter basements and/or crawlspaces to assess foundation construction composition, insulation types, and levels.

Document mechanical heating, domestic hot water and ventilation equipment information as well as the presence of air conditioners, secondary wood-burning equipment and gas fireplaces with pilot lights.

Access the attic space(s) to determine construction composition, ceiling insulation types and levels.

Assess building envelope walls and exposed floors to determine construction composition, insulation type and amount.

Perform a blower door test to calculate the air leakage characteristics of the home, identify specific air leakage locations, and perform an exhaust devices depressurization test to determine if exhaust devices present in the home could cause health and safety problems.

Explain and demonstrate electrical equipment/appliance power consumption, using a portable plug-in power meter.

During interior data collection, collect relevant interior geometry dimensions related to ceiling heights for use with geometry calculations.

Data collection activities targeting the home's mechanical systems include obtaining information on the home's primary space heating, air conditioning, domestic hot water and ventilation systems, secondary wood heating equipment and gas fireplaces with pilot lights.

In order to promote water conservation and water use efficiency practices that can benefit residential users, the advisor must ask the homeowner if they plan to upgrade any of their toilets to low-flush models or install grey water heat recovery systems. Explain to the home owner the benefits of installing this equipment.

Evaluation Completion

As part of the wrap-up to the evaluation process, present a copy of the “Notice to Homeowner” release form to the homeowner and ask them to read it and acknowledge its content by signing it before the advisor leaves the house.

Discuss with homeowner when and how they will be receiving their report, explain the follow-up steps to be taken by the homeowner once energy efficiency upgrades have been completed, and provide your contact information in case the homeowner has follow-up questions regarding the evaluation and/or recommendations made.