Unlocking the Value of Energy Efficiency Performance in Edmonton

Home and Building Energy Rating and Disclosure (HERD/BERD) policies are intended to reveal the “hidden” energy performance of buildings, leading to a more informed market that fully values improved performance. Our past research has found that HERD/BERD programs can help transform markets and encourage energy efficiency by increasing the value of energy efficient homes and buildings, thereby encouraging property owners to implement improvements.

Dunsky is now putting its knowledge and expertise to work for the City of Edmonton, who is launching not one but two energy performance reporting and disclosure pilots in June.

1. Home Energy Performance Labeling is a technical pilot for new and existing homes covered under part 9 of the 2014 Alberta building code. If approved, pilot participants (homeowners and builders) will have access to financial and/or non-financial incentives to obtain a home energy evaluation, and to disclose the resulting rating on the City’s online public disclosure platform.

2. Large Building Energy Rating and Disclosure will seek to engage with large commercial properties to benchmark their energy performance using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM). Participants will share their ESPM ratings with the City, and may opt to disclose results through a public disclosure platform. The City will also deploy financial and non-financial incentives to encourage building owners to improve their building’s performance. The City will lead by example by benchmarking and reporting the energy performance of city-owned facilities over the pilot period.

The pilots are intended to build industry capacity, engage key stakeholders and test the feasibility and value of moving from a voluntary system, to a regulated, mandatory one. In addition, the pilots will offer other benefits such as providing an accurate inventory of the City’s building stock and better estimates of potential GHG reductions and costs savings.