Ontario considers mandatory home energy ratings before selling property
CTV Toronto
Published Friday, November 27, 2015 6:24PM EST
CTV News has learned the Ontario government is considering making home energy audits mandatory before posting a property for sale.
The energy audits would pinpoint spots where homes waste heat and electricity. The property would be given a rating number similar to what consumers see on home appliances.
The government is working on a plan that would not force sellers to pay the $350 cost of the audit. The government is looking at possibly using revenue from the Cap and Trade carbon taxes to subsidize the audits. Photos
Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli says that creating mandatory audits would be “about reducing emissions.”
“It’s about a healthier planet and healthier communities because it will result in significant emission reductions,” Chiarelli said.
The executive director of the Windfall Ecology Centre, Brent Kopperson, says that making audits mandatory would be a benefit to the consumer.
“It gives you the opportunity to compare one home to another with respect to its energy usage and cost,” Kopperson said.
However, there is concern that a low rating could stigmatize a home, lowering its value. But home owners would be given the opportunity to make changes to their home and have it re-evaluated.
The government wanted the audits to be rolled out by the end of 2015 but has now pushed back that deadline after concerns about the cost from stakeholders.
Waste of money. Should not do it as part of the sale… not all buyers will affect repairs.
Sellers won’t necessarily do repairs to make house more saleable as likely can’t recoup costs.
They should pay for audit when homeowners want to improve energy savings.
Roy those are my thoughts exactly. The seller gets the audit done and decides to sell as is. Unless the government forces someone to do the work then it isn’t going to get done. Waste of time and just another provincial attempt at hidden taxes. Manitoba Hydro here willl do the audit for free here and with the report will allow you to get a rebate when work is completed within a year. Don’t think it should be funded at all by the government, but at least it isn’t a forced item.
Mandatory energy audits were part of bill 150 Green energy act when it received royal assent back in 2009. However OREA protested against it and McGuinty government backed off. Unless there will be some monetary incentive for upgrading energy efficiency of the older homes, just paying $350 for the audit will not be enough to convince people to do the right thing. On the other hand if federal government will introduce a new EnerGuide program next year then province may join in and roll out some energy incentives. Will see.
Another irrelevant Tax Grab by a government who are doing all in their power to “balance the books” for 2017 so they can go to the voters and say “See we did what we said we would do”. Except they won’t have, the voters will have paid to fulfill the politicians “promises”
Nothing changes, they are thin when they are voted in and they are fat when they are voted out, and it doesn’t matter who you vote for, the government always wins.
Think about all the waste and scandals this provincial government has perpetrated! Both with the current leader and the nefarious thief who preceded her!
Taxes should be used as you suggest but this government insists on flushing cash down the drain!
No where in your post (:Well maybe you should re-read the post a few times since you asked for facts about waste and they were posted.? have you posted any facts . .
What gives you the Idea my Solar system is any of your business .
You are I am sorry to say do not seem to add any help to the home Inspection industry .
So as per usual, when proven wrong, you start insulting. Where does my difference in views with you show I don’t help in the industry??? It is you who cannot admit to having made an error. Furthermore, you post information about your solar array but questions are met with insults?
Thank you once again for showing how vulgar and ignorant you can be.
This is one of the directors of http://ontarioachi.ca/
They have not sent out a Financial statement ,They refuse to give a list of member’s they do not follow their own rules .
Not hard to see why their members are not renewing .
They and their directors are a farce and have no idea on how to look after an association .
This is one of the directors of http://ontarioachi.ca/
They have not sent out a Financial statement ,They refuse to give a list of member’s they do not follow their own rules .
Not hard to see why their members are not renewing .
They and their directors are a farce and have no idea on how to look after an association .
Roy, as our “Government” ( at all levels) is a Representative one, once they are “voted in” no-one has any control over them. You can only hope we have a memory that serves us well to vote them out again in the next election. Four years is a long time in politics and any government who chooses not to be representative but follow their own agenda can do an awful lot of damage in that time.
As you seem to be fond of posting information from sources on the internet I thought I’d answer your posts with a few of my own. I have tried to answer the questions you posed with up to date information (i.e. FACTS of things that have happened since the new members and new leader came to power). I hope it answers your queries satisfactorily.
