Alberta Ecotrust

Digital Residential Energy Labels Pilot Project

This program is under development. More details will be provided in 2022.

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About the pilot project

How energy-efficient is your home?

Read the full announcement

Different energy scoring programs have been developed but they can be time-consuming and inadvertently expensive, making it difficult for homeowners and realtors to easily understand the efficiency of their properties. 

To help realtors and homeowners understand possible energy efficiency improvements in homes faster, a digitized and automatic energy scoring approach that is integrated into the real estate process can be used to rapidly understand home energy efficiency.

That is why Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, with support from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, and in partnership with software provider, Lightspark launched our Digital Residential Energy Labels pilot project in January 2022.

A home energy label shows how much energy a home uses (energy and carbon) and how that compares to similar homes. This label is like an appliance label on your fridge or a nutrition label on food. It gives homeowners and buyers a deeper understanding of a home’s efficiency that can help inform the buying or selling process.

Building on previous energy score programs, Alberta Ecotrust and Lightspark will be developing the first automatic, digital, home energy labelling program and are aiming to launch the Digital Home Energy Map publicly in Fall 2022.

Thank you to our pilot project partners

Alberta Real Estate Foundation logo on transparent background
Lightspark logo on transparent background

This pilot project aims to

  1. 1

    Display Digital Home Energy Labels

    Display Digital Home Energy Labels on an interactive map so homebuyers and REALTORS® can easily compare the energy performance of different homes, understand the potential upgrades, and feel confident in their home purchase. 

  2. 2

    Enable REALTORS® to educate homeowners

    Enable REALTORS® to educate homeowners on the energy efficiency of a home using the map. This will help REALTORS fully answer homebuyers questions about home efficiency so they can confidently send clients their dream listings.

  3. 3

    Make the map easy for homeowners

    Make the map easy for homeowners to view and update labels with recent energy-efficient upgrades so they can feel proud of their label and feel assured it is accurate.

  4. 4

    Encourage homeowners to upgrade their homes

    Encourage homeowners to upgrade their homes so that they can improve their health and comfort while enabling jobs for local contractors such as windows, insulation, HVAC installers, and electricians.

What our partners are saying

  • We are excited to support this innovative pilot project that will help uncover hidden value in Edmonton homes and improve understanding and awareness around energy efficiency ratings.
    Allan Font, Interim President and CEO, REALTORS® Association of Edmonton
  • Alberta Ecotrust is excited to launch the first large-scale energy labelling initiative for homes in Canada. This pilot makes Alberta a leader in home energy labelling by moving away from individual homeowners manually having to acquire a home energy audit, to automatically generating universal labels for every home in Calgary and Edmonton.
    Mike Mellross, Program Director, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
  • We are thrilled to have support from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation and Alberta Ecotrust Foundation to develop a home energy labelling program in Alberta. As an impact-driven software company, we aim to bring greater awareness to carbon reduction possibilities for homeowners in Calgary and Edmonton, while helping Albertans understand how they can improve their home comfort and reduce costs. This ground-breaking project will put Alberta at the forefront of home energy scoring, and we are excited to be a part of it.
    James Riley, CEO and Founder, Lightspark Software Inc.
  • We’ve heard from our stakeholders that learning about and leading on home energy efficiency is critical for real estate professionals and consumers as the effects of climate change are being felt more readily. This pilot drives the transformational and long-term change we were looking for through our one-time legacy grant program, especially with the power to scale to other municipalities. We are honoured to support REALTORS® and the larger real estate industry to lead the country in digital home energy labelling.
    Patti Morris, Executive Director, Alberta Real Estate Foundation
  • Local REALTORS® play an important role in educating their clients on the value of their home. This energy map will help them to understand and compare properties more thoroughly so that current and potential homeowners can make informed decisions when buying and selling.
    Alan Tennant, President and CEO, Calgary Real Estate Board
  • We are excited to support this innovative pilot project that will help uncover hidden value in Edmonton homes and improve understanding and awareness around energy efficiency ratings.
    Allan Font, Interim President and CEO, REALTORS® Association of Edmonton
  • Alberta Ecotrust is excited to launch the first large-scale energy labelling initiative for homes in Canada. This pilot makes Alberta a leader in home energy labelling by moving away from individual homeowners manually having to acquire a home energy audit, to automatically generating universal labels for every home in Calgary and Edmonton.
    Mike Mellross, Program Director, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation

About the Climate Innovation Fund

This project is possible with funding from Alberta Ecotrust's Climate Innovation Fund. The Climate Innovation Fund targets the major urban greenhouse gas emissions sources in Calgary and Edmonton.

Learn more
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