Licence Agreements and Promotional Opportunities

Within This Page

• Licensing EnerGuide for New Houses service organizations
• Influencer organization licensing
• Ineligible organizations
• Promoting EnerGuide for New Houses

Licensing EnerGuide for New Houses Service Organizations

All service organizations that provide the EnerGuide for New Houses service are required to have a contribution agreement and licence with NRCan.

Home builders who work with EnerGuide for New Houses are required to have a licence in place with NRCan to promote the service and to be registered with the local service organization that manages EnerGuide for New Houses in their province/territory. You can learn more about becoming an EnerGuide builder by contacting a local service organization.

If your organization is interested in delivering the service for new houses, contact EnerGuide for New Houses directly for more information.

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Influencer Organization Licensing

EnerGuide licenses some organizations solely to promote the EnerGuide for New Houses service. Licensed influencers are authorized to use the trademarked EnerGuide for New Houses logo. The business-to-business relationship created by the licence is managed by program officials at NRCan.

These are some of the organizations that are eligible to become influencers:

• energy supply companies
• retailers that supply a wide variety of home energy-saving products ("big box" stores and hardware stores)
• government institutions, including Aboriginal organizations and provincial or municipal government organizations involved in housing, climate change or energy issues
• not-for-profit organizations involved in housing, climate change or energy issues
• financial institutions
• consumer or professional associations related to housing, such as real estate companies or technical and professional associations such as the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) or the Canadian Home Builders' Association

If you represent one of these organizations and you are interested in pursuing a licence to promote the service to your customers, please review the application requirements   Word Document Version.

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Ineligible Organizations

Because of conflict-of-interest concerns, certain groups are not eligible to hold a Licence Agreement to promote the service.

Use of the trademarks by certain manufacturers or renovation contractors could be interpreted as an EnerGuide for New Houses endorsement of their goods or services.

As well, use of the trademarks by professional home inspectors and housing energy experts who are not authorized to perform the EnerGuide service could lead to confusion in the marketplace. For example, customers might think they are purchasing the EnerGuide service when, in fact, they are not.

Companies that are ineligible to hold a Licence Agreement to promote the service (except by authority of a contract to deliver the service with NRCan) include the following:

• manufacturers of energy-using equipment, such as furnaces, or energy-saving materials, such as insulation products
• renovation contractors and their associated sub-trades (such as window installers, heating equipment installers and insulation contractors)
• home inspectors
• housing energy experts (individuals or companies)

NRCan is pleased to have any of these organizations inform their customers about the EnerGuide service. Upon request, and subject to availability, NRCan will provide these organizations with free brochures about the EnerGuide for New Houses service for distribution to their customers.

If you represent one of these groups, there are opportunities for you to promote EnerGuide for New Houses to your customers.

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Promoting EnerGuide for New Houses

If your business relates to energy efficiency in the home, consider promoting EnerGuide for New Houses to your customers. These services are independent energy evaluations that help customers recognize the value of the investment in energy efficiency.

If you're an insulation manufacturer, window manufacturer or installer or a heating equipment contractor, when your customers talk to you about your product, they are also looking for energy efficiency information. By informing your customers about the EnerGuide services, you are helping your clients make the first step toward value buying.

Because the EnerGuide services provide independent advice service, they do not promote specific products. The value of the service lies in educating customers and increasing their awareness of market-ready energy efficiency products and techniques that can be cost-effectively included in renovations of existing homes or the construction of new homes.

NRCan welcomes appropriate industry promotion of the EnerGuide services. If you wish to distribute NRCan publications to your customers, contact Office of Energy Efficiency Publications online or by phone for free copies. You may also wish to link your company Web site to the EnerGuide for New Houses Web site.

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