The Canadian government uses a system known as “EnerGuide” to give consumers a quick and easy way to identify appliances and products that offer significant energy savings. The EnerGuide system is also used to evaluate homes in terms of energy performance, using a scale of 0 to 100 to rate a given home’s energy efficiency. New custom home builders like Fine Line Homes draw on specific principles outlined in the EnerGuide system to provide homeowners with optimized energy efficiency features, helping them reduce household energy consumption and minimize energy losses.
A Breakdown of the Household EnerGuide Rating System
Here is how the EnerGuide household rating system breaks down:
- A rating of 64 or less indicates that the home does not conform to current building code standards for energy efficiency. It only applies to older homes, which were built before the current guidelines were instituted.
- A rating of 65 to 72 indicates that a new house build meets the minimum building code guidelines for energy efficiency.
- A rating of 73 to 79 indicates that the home offers some energy efficiency features, but still has significant room for improvement.
- A rating of 80 to 90 qualifies the home as “energy efficient.”
- A rating of 91 to 100 means that the new home is completely energy efficient, and requires little to no purchased energy, as measured on an annual basis.
Thus, a home with a low rating has significant energy problems, including major air leaks, a lack of adequate insulation, poor ventilation, and high rates of energy consumption. At the other end of the spectrum, a home with a top EnerGuide rating will have no air leaks, optimized insulation in all key areas, excellent ventilation, and self-sufficient energy generation features, such as geothermal heating and cooling and/or solar power panels which provide most or all of the home’s electricity needs.
Green home builders such as Fine Line Homes aim to meet, at minimum, a household EnerGuide rating of 80. You can enjoy the benefits of a higher rating, depending on the design and efficiency features you choose.
The Benefits of High EnerGuide Ratings
The more energy-efficient your new home is, the better. Factors such as the home’s directional orientation, the size and placement of its windows, its shape, its building materials, its appliances, and its HVAC and energy generation technologies all influence its energy performance.
Beyond the obvious advantage of reducing your household energy bills, you’ll enjoy a wide range of benefits when you optimize your home’s energy efficiency, including:
- Improved comfort. Energy-efficient HVAC technologies don’t just save electricity and natural resources; they also improve your indoor comfort by creating even levels of heating and cooling throughout the home. You’ll notice a major difference all year round.
- Easier maintenance. When your home is designed for optimized airtightness, you’ll have a much easier time managing factors such as indoor humidity levels, which can in turn prevent a lot of problems with air quality and mold/mildew growth. You also won’t have to worry about retrofitting your home to improve its overall performance.
- Boosted resale value. Best of all, energy-efficient homes boast higher resale values than comparable homes that are not optimized. EnerGuide homes are, quite simply, more attractive to home buyers because they offer sustainable savings across the ownership period.
Energy-Efficient New Home Builders in Calgary and Okotoks
Fine Line Homes is a leading Alberta-based builder of energy-efficient homes which meet or exceed EnerGuide standards. If you’re looking to build a new home in Calgary, or if you want to take advantage of the relaxed pace of small-town living in Okotoks now that the city has lifted its population cap and is set to grow again, we invite you to discover the difference we can make. To learn more about our company, or to discuss your new home needs and preferences, please contact us.
