The audits range in cost but are generally $360.00 for the Pre-retrofit augit and $175.00 for the Post-retrofit audit. The initial audit takes about 1.5 hours and during the process your home will be depressurized using a blower door and readings will be taken to determine how much air the home may be loosing.

 The Energy Advisor should also review, furnace, central air, insulation, window and doors, toilets, ventilation, air sealing and water heating. There are also Ontario Power Authority grants available when working with an authorized heating contractor.

The final audit takes about 45 minuters to review the upgrades complete and to take a final pressure test. The Provinicial gov’t will rebate $150.00 after the initial audit and the Federal gov’t. takes care of all other grants.

An example of a grant for going froma conventional furnace to a 95% efficient furnace with an energy efficient motor is: Federal incetive – $790.00 OPA-$250, for a total of $1040.0 In addition you should see substantial savings on energy usage over time. When you can put a few upgrades together, the grants can make it a very worthwhile process.

There are numerous professionals who do Energy Audits. One that we know and like is Canspec Building Services Inc.  who has been doing energy audits for the last few years now. You can reach Canspec at 1-877-226-7732 . They are also a Home inspection company.  Hopefully you will save a good bit of money.

First there is the issue of cost which can be twice to three times the regular price especially if we are talking meat here. Seasonally you can get some great buys. Last week squash at Loblaws was .89 lb and at the Carrot organic was .99lb with organic Broccoli at $1.99. Both great values.

The other consideration is authenticity. Is it truly organic? With acid rain and all sorts of other pesticides in the air and water run off who can say what gets into a farmers field. Hydroponics might be the safest best. Also, there will also be a small amount of fraud going on out there. Fraud seems to be a fact of life these days.

So if budget is a consideration how do you keep costs in check?
A newscaster on Global Toronto mentioned the Organic Dirty Dozen last week on the air and I went searching the net looking for references to it. Just after making a comment about Global’s in depth reporting she mentioned the Dirty Dozen below and listed only the top 3 items… leaving me searching for the rest… so much for in depth reporting.

These reporters crash markets. They have single handedly crashed the Toronto Real Estate market a number of years back and this week they certainly were doing their best to put RIM and blackberry out of business.

Organic Dirty Dozen

The Dirty-Dozen Foods to Buy Organic
Although there are benefits to buying organic produce, it can be a bit pricey. That’s why nutrition experts recommend going organic for the 12 vegetables and fruits that tend to have the highest levels of pesticides. Avoid conventional versions of these foods and you can lower your pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Here’s a list of the “dirty dozen” that justify going organic:
· apples
· celery
· cherries
· imported grapes
· lettuce
· nectarines
· peaches
· pears
· potatoes
· spinach
· strawberries
· sweet bell peppers
Give it a try and go Organic on the Dirty Dozen to lower your toxic load and keep your food costs in line.

Currently plastic bags constitute about 10% of debris on U.S. shorelines and China will save 37 million barrels of oil a year by banning fee plastic bags. Plastic bags also have a big impact on wildlife… there are some facts on their website. Buy 5 or 6 for your friends or clients for a gift instead of that big bottle of wine.

2/Keep your hands off the temperature. Decide to live in a slightly warmer space say 24%, then stick to it. Resisting changing the temperature will keep your bills down and help the environment.

3/ Buy a new air conditioner. If your system has been around for a decade or more it won’t be very energy efficient. A new system with a SEER rating (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) of 14-20 will cut your energy bills up to 30% and cool your home more quickly.

4/ Location is important. Install your new system on the north side of your home or in a shaded area. A unit in direct sunlight can use up to 10% more energy. Don’t plant shrubs around the unit, this can block intake and exhaust of air.

5/ Use Ceiling Fans. If you can use ceiling fans instead of air conditioning your electricity bill for cooling will reduce to about .15 cents per day.

6/ Turn off the A/C when your on vacation… you could save up to $70.00 on this one.

7/ Seals Cracks around your windows and doors. This can stop the loss of up to 30% of cool dry air. Caulking windows and weather stripping doors can save you several $ per window and door over the year.

8/ Keep it Shady. On hot days close your blinds. Depending how your home sits this could save you as much as

another 10% in cooling costs.

Eco-Lawn is a blend of seven fescue grasses that are naturally insect and weed resistant.
It grows an inch a month and is so dense you only have to mow once a month.

No fertilization or water required because the root system goes 9-14 inches deep and in August your lawn will be green without water.

Apparently you can over-seed an existing lawn and it eventually will take over your existing grass. However, it will take 3-4 years to fully mature and develop as it grows slowly.

Eco-Lawn also helps carbon emissions because the lawn mower is only used once or twice per summer.

This sounds right up my alley

The cost is $29.95 for a five pound bag which covers 1000 sq. ft. of lawn and you can order it at www.wildflowerfarm.com

The project will have 1195 homes and be completed over the next 5 years.
Consumers are now starting to ask for LEED certification along with larger suites. Hopefully this will get us away from the thousands of pocket sized boxes being created by developers.

There are 5 LEED categories, they are:
Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere,
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality.

The project will have 1195 homes and be completed over the next 5 years.
Consumers are now starting to ask for LEED certification along with larger suites. Hopefully this will get us away from the thousands of pocket sized boxes being created by developers.

There are 5 LEED categories, they are:
Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere,
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality.

For more information on this you can contact the North American Native Plant Society at 416-631-4438 or visit their website at www.nan-ps.org, LEAF at 416-413-9224 website is leaftoronto.org and Wildflower farm at 1-866-476-9453 or wildflowerfarm.com. They are in Coldwater Ontario and specialize in these types of plantings.

So buyers are going to be hearing more and more about simple improvements the current trend is bike storage which gives them a very easy credit.

Currently developers of L Tower, a 55 storey condo adjacent to Hummingbird Centre are aiming for LEED gold, the 2nd highest class. This will help them to distinguish the building esthetically and environmentally making the building easier to sell as markets will eventually slow from their current pace. Older less environmentally friendly buildings with high maintenance fees will become less desirable.

A Gold LEED designation could amount to a building having a 30% saving on water and energy compared to a conventional building.

The Toronto Community Housing Corp has sights set on LEED gold as well for the new Regent Park development. They are shooting for mixed development with 60% market rated units and green development plus architectural excellence.

An example of items that would gain LEED points would be dual flush toilets that cost $300-$400. more per unit. Kitchen cabinetry would have to be produces with low-emitting adhesives and sealants .. which means getting the manufacturing industries to change their standards.

So builders who courageously pioneer this will pay higher upfront costs. High performance windows, concrete for walls must contain 40% slag a by-product of steel production, low off-gassing carpets. Building for Platinum is much more difficult than gold. The upside is that their buildings will probably be more popular and retain higher values.

One builder in Hamilton building a rental apartment building is using most of the above plus solar heating for hot water, captured rainwater for flushing toilets, low flow fixtures for showers and sinks.

Energy Star appliances and heat recovery ventilation in each units. Meters for monitoring electricity used in each unit. A kill switch so that tenants can turn off all electricity in their unit when they leave the building, wind turbines, a reflective white roof to reduce heat gain and landscaping with native plants that don’t need water. The developer is Robert Manherz who built an off the grid home for himself.

Wow if you were a tenant wouldn’t you love to rent in this building?

To make a 10 storey building with about 84 units efficient enough to merit LEED points will cost about $300,000 but the future savings will be roughly $100,000 per year making the effort well worthwile.

The highest LEE certification at the moment for a mid-rise and highrise residential building is silver. Several more are targeting for platinum

LEED Rating Levels are:
Certified ( 26-32 points)
Silver (33-38 points)
Gold (39-51 points)
Platinum (52-70 points)

Registration – Once a building is registered with the council there must be a years occupancy and certification for it to be deemed as meeting LEEDS targets.

What this means for us as home buyers is a higher standard and quality of construction, lower costs and greater market value retention. Watch out for these new buildings and we will keep you informed on the blog here as they come along. Many builders of course will do the minimum just to get registered. That makes the rating system above important to note.

Hope this helps. Best Aeriol.