Access to the BC Home Energy Planner expands to the City of New Westminster

Residents of the City of New Westminster are now eligible to use the BC Home Energy Planner. This represents the fourth community to get access to the Planner, after  the Town of Smithers, the District of Saanich, and the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary  began using the planner earlier this year. 

The energy planner is a result of the collaboration between the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI) and Properate. Using its home energy rating technologies, Properate improves BC homeowners' access to virtual home energy evaluations, government rebates, and home energy upgrades. 

The project aims to reduce the 6.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that come from our buildings and homes in BC.

The BC Home Energy Planner is the most ambitious remote home energy rating program, not just in Canada, but across North America. This tool, a white-labelled version of Properate's software, is set to provide virtual ratings for 1.3 million homeowners in BC at the later stages of the project. Residents visiting the energy planner’s website get remote ratings as well as upgrade roadmaps with technology options, cost estimates, potential savings, and available rebates. 

The pilots come after comprehensive research, development, and user testing. The testing and development targeted customizations specific to BC’s demographics, providing education to all homeowners while maintaining a high regard for security and privacy of user information. This was aided by Properate’s privacy-friendly energy rating methodology, which does not require sensitive user data.

BC is leading the clean energy movement in Canada. The BC Home Energy Planner represents a robust approach to engaging a diverse population with inclusivity and accessibility in mind. Properate’s goal is to accelerate the transition to more energy efficient homes. Properate’s software is guided by building science principles such as envelope-first recommendations and the house-as-a-system approach. Part of de-risking the transition to a cleaner future is applying the right technologies. Properate’s grey-box modeling has proven effective in drastically increasing the accessibility and inclusiveness of home upgrade insights.

The pilot launch aligns with the launch of the new Home Energy Savings program. By using the BC Home Energy Planner, homeowners will be able to get an upgrade plan for their home with an assessment of potential cost savings and eligible rebates. 

Properate Homes is freely available across Canada; however, more work is needed to make other Properate technologies available to all Canadians outside BC. If you find this technology useful for your community, please reach out to us.