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Eligibility Criteria for Grants Under the EnerGuide for Houses Retrofit Incentive

July 2005

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Within This Page

• Background on EnerGuide for Houses
• Eligibility Criteria
  • Eligible Recipients
  • Eligible Homes
  • Conditions of Payment
  • Application and Supporting Documentation
  • Privacy
  • Basis, Timing and Processing of Payment
  • Quality Assurance
  • Appeal Process
  • High-Efficiency Heating Equipment
  • Authorized Representatives
  • Additional Incentives for Northern Residents

Background on EnerGuide for Houses

The Government of Canada created EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) to

• further Canada's climate change goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Canada's housing sector
• foster the development of energy efficiency expertise in the housing industry in Canada
• provide Canadian homeowners with reliable energy efficiency information to help them make informed choices when retrofitting/renovating their properties.

EGH is delivered as an expert advice service to homeowners. The EGH service consists of a qualified energy expert who visits a home and uses a systematic methodology to assess its energy use characteristics. The expert energy advisor performs a pre-retrofit assessment and provides a rating label for the home in its pre-retrofit state. The energy advisor then provides the owner(s) with a customized, prioritized report of energy upgrade recommendations. Following the completion of energy efficiency upgrades by the owner(s), the energy advisor returns to perform a post-retrofit evaluation and provide an upgraded energy efficiency rating label for the home.

Owners purchase this service with three primary goals in mind :

• to reduce heating costs
• to improve comfort
• to receive unbiased expert advice about energy efficiency retrofits as part of the retrofit planning process

Contracted service organizations provide the service to dwelling owners across Canada. Service organizations are qualified through an assessment process that determines their technical background in energy efficiency and their administrative capabilities.

You can find a list of service organizations authorized by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to perform the EnerGuide for Houses service in two ways:

• EnerGuide for Houses retrofit grants
• NRCan's toll-free line at 1 800 387-2000 (in the National Capital Region, call 995-2943)

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Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Recipients

Residential property owners living in Canada are eligible for a grant under the EnerGuide for Houses Retrofit Incentive provided that :

• at the time of application, they own the dwelling for which the grant is requested
• they have received a pre-retrofit energy efficiency rating under EGH
• they have performed, or have had performed on their behalf, energy efficiency retrofits
• they have received a post-retrofit energy efficiency rating under EGH that shows the dwelling has met or exceeded the energy efficiency improvement levels required to meet the threshold for a grant
• they permit the service organization to submit the dwelling's electronic data file and ownership information to NRCan

Landlords are also eligible to apply for a grant , provided that their dwelling meets the requirements under "Eligible Homes" up to a maximum of $100,000 per grant recipient.

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Eligible Homes

To be eligible for the grant, the dwelling must be in Canada and :

• must be either a low-rise residential dwelling, that is a detached, semi-detached or row house that is no more than three and a half stories high, and that has a footprint of not more than 600 square metres or a mobile dwelling on a permanent foundation (as defined under Parts 9 and 2 of the National Building Code of Canada, 1995)
• must be capable of receiving a rating under EGH (if an energy advisor observes factors that in his or her opinion suggest the structure of the building may be unsafe or that may affect the health of occupants, the energy advisor shall have the authority to refuse to rate the house)
• must not be a vacation property or a cottage

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Conditions of Payment

The grant payment shall

• be based solely on the difference between the pre-retrofit and the post-retrofit rating, as defined in the Retrofit Incentive Grant Table in effect at the time of the grant application (see online version of the EGH Grant Calculator ) – to ensure consistency in the rating, files prepared in older versions of the software will be rerun in a version of the software that is approved at the time of the application .
• be provided only one time per owner, per dwelling
• be provided to eligible owners with the understanding that dwelling owners shall accommodate NRCan by participating in NRCan quality assurance when requested to do so

Owners shall accept full responsibility for the work performed, including choice of materials and service provider for renovation work, obtaining all applicable permits and paying all applicable taxes on work performed.

Owners are required to retain receipts for renovation work completed for three (3) years following the date of submission of a grant application. Such receipts may be required for the purpose of evaluating the grant program, for example, by identifying how much of the total renovation costs were supported by grant funding.

Action will be taken to remedy underpayment or overpayment of grants identified during the quality assurance process.

If this incentive is combined with any other federal, provincial, territorial or municipal financial incentive, the total monies cannot exceed the value of the work done.

Property owners participating in the EGH service who install high efficiency heating equipment are eligible for an additional $100 incentive.

Property owners who require more than 6522 heating degree-days are eligible for an additional incentive of $175 (consult an EGH advisor in your area).

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Application and Supporting Documentation

The application for the grant shall be made by an authorized EGH service organization on behalf of the owner.

The application requires that the following information be submitted to NRCan:

• the pre-retrofit EGH evaluation files in an approved software version
• the post-retrofit EGH evaluation files in an approved software version, which will include
  • the full name of the building owner or authorized representative
  • the complete street address (including city, province/territory and postal code) of the dwelling for which the grant is requested
  • the postal address for mailing the payment cheque (if different from the dwelling address)
  • the owner's residential phone number or the authorized agent's phone number
  • the municipal tax number of the dwelling for which the grant is requested
  • a form signed by the owner or authorized agent authorizing the submission of electronic dwelling data files and the disclosure of the above-mentioned private information to NRCan. A copy of this form will be left with the owner or the authorized agent

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Privacy

Personal information is required to process the grant application. Any personal information provided by homeowners is protected under the federal Privacy Act. The application form explains why data is collected and how it is protected.

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Basis, Timing and Processing of Payment

A grant application must be submitted to NRCan no later than 18 calendar months after the date of the pre-retrofit evaluation.

All grants are payable subject to the availability of funds.

Applications that misrepresent or fail to include, either in error or otherwise, any of the information required under "Application and Supporting Documentation" will not be processed for payment.

Payment cheques will be mailed to the address given in the application submitted to NRCan, where possible, within 90 days of the completion of the application form, notwithstanding any change of ownership of the dwelling that may occur between the time of the submission of the application and the mailing of the cheque.

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Quality Assurance

To ensure the integrity of EGH, NRCan shall perform a quality assurance on a series of randomly selected files, representing dwellings evaluated across Canada. Under this process, quality assurance staff will carry out one or more of the following activities:

• confirm owner satisfaction with the service
• verify the electronic data files submitted to NRCan
• accompany the energy advisor during the evaluation to verify data collection and modelling processes
• undertake any other verification deemed necessary by NRCan

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Appeal Process

Questions arising on the process of the application or of the service will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Owners who wish to appeal an aspect of their dwelling's EGH evaluation or their grant application shall direct their appeal to the service organization making the application submission to NRCan or having performed the EGH evaluation.

If owners remain dissatisfied after appeal to their service organization, they may appeal directly to NRCan by submitting an e-mail request outlining their concern to EnerGuide for Houses or by telephoning 1 800 387-2000 (in the National Capital Region, call 995-2943) and providing their daytime telephone number and the information that they are appealing. Operators will forward caller information to program officials, who will return the call.

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High-Efficiency Heating Equipment

Property owners participating in the EGH service who install ENERGY STAR^® qualified furnaces and boilers are eligible for an additional $100 incentive. To qualify, gas-fired furnaces must have an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating of at least 90 percent, and boilers must have an AFUE of at least 85 percent. A list of the eligible models of boilers and gas-fired furnaces is available on the ENERGY STAR Web site. In addition to the ENERGY STAR qualified heating equipment, oil-fired furnaces that have an AFUE of at least 85 percent are also eligible. This additional incentive will be available until March 31, 2006.

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Authorized Representatives

An authorized representative may act on behalf of a dwelling owner when applying for an EGH grant through an official service organization.

Additional Incentives for Northern Residents

For residents who live in colder northern climates, the sum of $175 will be automatically added to the grant amounts listed in the Retrofit Incentive Grant Table in effect at the time of the grant application when a dwelling requires more than 6522 heating degree-days. For more information on heating degree-days and whether your dwelling would qualify, consult an EGH advisor in your area. Contact an advisor by calling 1-800-387-2000 (toll-free) (995-2943 in the National Capital Region).

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