Residential

As of November 2016, the Alberta Building Code has adopted section 9.36, Energy Efficiency, requiring stricter construction practices of new homes to ensure higher energy efficiency levels are met. The code applies to all residential new construction and major renovations and additions. There are three paths to compliance:

1. The Prescriptive Compliance Pathway uses a checklist approach to ensure that minimum requirements in the energy code are met. This method is the most straightforward, as energy efficiency requirements are listed by building component, including mechanical/ventilation requirements and minimum effective R-values for all wall, ceiling and foundation assemblies. The Prescriptive Path can net significant savings to high volume home builders that use consistent construction specifications. 
2. The Trade-off Path allows more flexibility in the design as it allows you to trade elements within the above ground building envelope to demonstrate an equivalent level of performance without meeting every prescriptive requirement found in 9.36.2. The Trade-Off path requires a calculation to demonstrate that while the proposed design does not exactly meet the prescriptive requirements, the amount of energy consumed will be the same or less than would be consumed by following strict prescriptive compliance.
3. The Performance Compliance Pathway compares the modeled energy consumption of the proposed house to the modeled energy consumption of an identical reference house. The proposed house is in compliance if its modeled energy consumption is lower than or equal to that of the Code Reference house. Once construction of the house is complete, a blower door test is performed and a Natural Resources Canada EnerGuide Rating System label is issued.
4. The EnerGuide Rating System for New Homes Compliance offers the same design flexibility as the Performance Path but also includes EnerGuide labelling. A blower door test must be completed for all homes and the home’s rating must be minimum 5% better than a typical new home. 

The warm earth and groundwater below the surface provide a free, renewable source of energy for as long as the sun continues to shine. The earth, under an average residential lot, can easily provide enough free energy to heat and cool the home built on it.

The free energy has only to be moved from the ground into your home. This is done either by pumping water from a well (open loop) or by pumping a heat transfer fluid through a horizontal or vertical circuit of underground piping (closed loop). The fluid, called the heat transfer fluid, absorbs the heat in the groundwater or soil and transfers it to the heat pump. The heat absorbed by the fluid from the solar-heated ground is extracted from it by the heat pump, and the now-chilled fluid is circulated through a heat exchanger over and over again to extract more heat from the earth.

If your home is located near a suitable pond or lake, you can use a Geo- Exchange System (GXS) to draw on this excellent source of free energy.

Burying a loop in the ground around your home is like owning your own oil well, but instead of pumping oil from an underground pool and burning it to create heat (and greenhouse gases), you tap into clean energy that will be there for as long as there is a sun.

More than two-thirds of the energy delivered to your home by a GXS is renewable solar energy stored in the ground. This is great for your wallet because it is free energy. It is also good for the environment because there are virtually no toxic emissions. Each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used to operate a GXS draws more than 3 kWh of free, renewable energy from the ground.

How much heat does your home lose? Calculating its heat loss is the foundation on which your GXS design is built. The care taken in the construction of your home determines how much heat escapes through the cracks around its windows and doors, and how well its insulation is installed. The direction your windows face determines how much solar energy they let into the house. The heat loss calculation, therefore, determines the size of GXS you need.

RETScreen® International is a clean energy awareness, decision-support and capacity building tool. This standardized and integrated clean energy project analysis software can be used worldwide to evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emission reductions for various types of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies (RETs).

RETScreen modeling can be used to evaluate any one of or any combination of the following applications: power, heating, cooling, single buildings or multiple buildings, industrial processes, communities, district heating and district cooling. Further, it permits analysis with a wide range of renewable and non-renewable fuels (which can be used in parallel), including landfill gas, biomass, bagasse, biodiesel, hydrogen, natural gas, oil/diesel, coal, municipal waste, etc. Finally, these fuels can be evaluated using multiple types of power, heating and/or cooling equipment, including reciprocating engines, gas turbines, gas turbine – combined cycle, steam turbines, geothermal systems, fuel cells, wind turbines, hydro turbines, photovoltaic modules, boilers, heat pumps, biomass systems, heaters, furnaces, compressors, absorption chillers, etc., all working under various operating conditions (baseload, intermediate load and/or peak load).

RETScreen modeling is used to help the user estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of the proposed project. Our team can help you estimate the sensitivity of important financial indicators in relation to key technical and financial parameters to help optimize the project from an energy use and cost standpoint.

What is an EnerGuide Rating?

An EnerGuide Rating and Label demonstrate the energy performance of your home. It estimates the net amount of energy a home consumes in a year. Our energy advisors produce a rating by collecting house information during an on-site evaluation and entering the data into Natural Resources Canada’s energy simulation software, HOT2000. The calculation uses standard operating conditions to ensure the rating focuses on the house rather than the occupants’ behaviours. 

An EnerGuide evaluation can help you make informed decisions when operating, renovating or purchasing a home. An evaluation is the first step to help you better understand your home’s energy usage so you can make the best energy efficiency choices to save on utility costs and improve the comfort of your home. 

Planning to renovate? An evaluation will help you make informed decisions on which upgrades work best for your home, how to prioritize them and which upgrades will save you most on energy costs. There is no obligation to undertake the recommended upgrades, our advisors simply provide a non-biased consulting service that provides you with the best information on how to increase the energy efficiency and comfort of your home. 

Purchasing a home? Look for the EnerGuide label on the electrical panel to get a snapshot of the home’s energy performance. 

What is included in an EnerGuide evaluation?

During the on-site evaluation, our advisors will collect the following information:

• A complete review of the building envelope (windows, doors, ceilings, walls, foundation)
  • Visual inspection and measurement to determine surface area and insulation levels
• A complete review of mechanical systems (heating system, air conditioning system, ventilation system, and domestic hot water)
• Blower door test
  • Depressurization test where required (combustion spillage)
  • Measurement of air changes per hour at 50 Pa
  • Location of major air leakage areas
• • Compared to a new home built to 2010 NBC National Building Code
  • Individual recommended upgrades with associated potential energy savings
  • ERS certified label for your home as it currently stands
  • Intensity rating of your home energy modelling of all components to determine the energy efficiency of your home