Rate Our Home – Home Energy Labelling

Did you know that a home is typically the largest purchase that someone will ever make yet there are some things we can’t see when deciding which home to buy, like energy use and costs?  To address this, Metro Vancouver has launched a new program that encourages voluntary disclosure of home energy labels and Ecolighten is proud to support this initiative through Energy Save New West.

The new program from Metro Vancouver is called “Rate Our Home” and it’s designed to make spotting an energy efficient home easier by creating awareness and demand for EnerGuide home energy labels. 

In Canada, we use the EnerGuide rating system developed by the federal government to rate the energy use of various products. You’ve probably seen an EnerGuide label on your new refrigerator, dishwasher or even new car.  Well, you may be surprised to know that it’s also available for houses too!

Just like nutrition labeling on packaging that helps you understand the detailed ingredients in a food product, an EnerGuide home energy label can help inform you on the energy performance characteristics of a house.  Effectively, EnerGuide home energy labels tell us how energy efficient a home currently is, how efficient it can be, and how it compares to other similar homes.

More specifically, since homes come in different sizes, locations and characteristics, EnerGuide home energy labels allow us to reliably compare the total energy efficiency of different homes and evaluate how a homes energy performance may impact occupant energy bills, comfort, and indoor air quality.

Although home energy labelling is not mandatory in BC, RateOurHome.ca is hoping to raise awareness and make greenhouse gas emissions and energy use in homes more visible for everyone.  To accomplish this goal, Metro Vancouver is developing a suite of communication tools for consumers, builders and the real estate community to understand the benefits of EnerGuide home energy labels.  This includes a home energy map that will display EnerGuide home energy labels online and various electronic media and print materials that will be used in Metro Vancouver’s outreach campaign. 

Ecolighten is proud to support this effort since if home energy labeling were to become the norm, it would be make it that much easier for everyone to become more energy aware with a common understanding of the benefits that improved home energy performance provides.

To learn more about Rate Our Home, please visit Metro Vancouver’s website HERE.