Specialto Financial Post August 29, 2017 9:46AM EDT
Coming soon, another costly burden on harried homeowners — mandatoryenergy audits
**PeterShawn Taylor: Green groups are lobbying for the $400-$600 audit to be arequirement for every house on the market **** — for **
Ontario residents it is soon to be aharsh reality
Earlier this month a coalition of environmental advocacy groups headlined bythe Pembina Institute released a set of 10 demands directed towards the federaland provincial governments regarding the construction industry.
The group says these changes are necessary if Canada is to reach itsoverly-ambitious (some might say impossible) 2030 targets under the Parisclimate change agreement.
While this energy policy manifesto covers many aspects of residential andcommercial buildings, the item most likely to affect current homeowners is itscall for “universal benchmarking and home energy labelling across the country.”
In other words, mandatory energyaudits. While new homes across Canada may feature “Energy Star” federalgovernment certification or similar programs,
this new proposal goes much, muchfurther by making an energy audit a requirement for every house to be sold,including older dwellings.
Mandatory pre-sale energy audits are being promoted as a harmless bit ofinformation for home buyers and sellers.
“It’s just another way for a home tobe valued,” Karen Tam Wu of the Pembina Institute told the Canadian Press. That’sone way to look at it. Here’s another:
This will become yet another time-consuming and costly requirement laid atthe feet of harried home owners.
Alongside all the other myriad legal, financial and practical issues thatmust be sorted out prior to listing a house,
you may soon have to add the need to arrange a bothersome home energy auditto the list.
Energy audits are being promoted as a harmless bit of information for homebuyers and sellers .