This project developed, deployed and demonstrated a toolset meant to engage and educate homeowners about home energy retrofits and facilitated their eventual interaction with Certified Energy Advisors (EAs). It tackled the combined problems of (i) a lack of local EAs to meet the demand for energy evaluations in the Edmonton area and (ii) the lack of an hourly, regional emissions evaluation within the EnerGuide process and the resultant retrofits that EAs highlight to homeowners. 

The project provided homeowners with access to a preliminary, survey-based, 'mini' energy audit and used features of their home, which analyzed the inputs and recommended tailored energy efficiency measures. The results also include insights into the total cost of ownership for each retrofit package. Finally, the toolset identified pathways for the homeowners to connect with an EA and move forward with an energy assessment and retrofit incentive programs. 

Furthermore, Volta developed knowledge transfer plans and products, including a Retrofit Explorer Tool that allows the user to explore the application of different retrofit upgrades alone or with other upgrades to a typical Edmonton house. The user can then see the resulting change in energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the total cost of ownership, including annual retrofit loan and utility costs.

Volta also developed and translated the Preliminary Energy Audit (“mini-audit”) into three languages: French, Punjabi and Mandarin. Punjabi and Mandarin are prominent languages in the Greater Edmonton area. They also worked with the City of Edmonton to obtain retrofit costing data from their CEIP/HERA programs to inform the results of the Retrofit Explorer Tool.

Since the development of this project, sixteen mini audits have been completed from over 30,000 engagements via social media and other advertising channels. There have been over 1,000 uses of the Retrofit Explorer tool with no promotion.

The team is working toward hosting “case study” webinars and other peer-to-peer learning and sharing opportunities. The team is also working on developing a strategy to empower homeowners who have done this work to share their stories, helping to facilitate a blended approach where homeowners have digital tools to share their experiences. They will also facilitate retrofit cost sharing in coordination with NRCan LEEP, FCM, Retrofit Canada, CHBA, Calgary, Edmonton and other Alberta Municipalities.

In the face of challenges around programs that encourage retrofits and their start-stop nature due to changing policy priorities, Volta is working with the cities of Calgary and Edmonton and the Provincial and Federal Governments.