Article from Volume 9, Issue Number 2, 2022
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The Green Condo Page - Spring 2022
By Alan Forbes | Other articles by Alan Forbes | Regular Column
Whether it improves the sustainability of your condo operations, reduces waste, increases energy efficiency, reduces water consumption or just beautifies the environment surrounding your property, we’d like to hear from you - just send us an email with a subject line of “CCI Green Condo Page”. We hope to hear from you soon. Please send any comments or suggestions to cci.mb.news@gmail.com.
CONDOS, CLIMATE CHANGE & MARKET VALUE
How energy efficient is your condo? Do you think energy efficiency could factor into your condo’s future sales price? The Federal government is considering requiring energy audits for home sales to support its climate change plan and 2030 and 2050 targets1. Several municipalities have started working toward energy labelling. In particular, there is a pilot project underway in Calgary and Edmonton with digital energy labelling2 and Edmonton is considering making it mandatory3.
The label is explained in the attached graphic4. To relate the information on the label, to a condo owner in Manitoba, I looked at my own townhouse, which is electrically heated. My energy usage for a 12 month period was about 18,000 kWh which equates to 66 GJ with an annual cost of $1800 based on current Manitoba Hydro rates5. If you want to figure it out for your own condo, 1 GJ equates to 277 k-Wh and 25.5 cubic metres of natural gas.
Now back to buying and selling condos and how energy labels could affect prices. If you were trying to choose between two properties, besides the usual ‘location, location, location’, you’d look at the listing price, property taxes and the condo fees. If there were energy labels, you could then also factor in the difference in energy costs for your selection process. All other factors being comparable, you’d probably pick the condo with the lower energy costs, knowing that the rates for gas and electricity are only going to go up. When and if the energy labels start to appear, it will bring the energy cost aspect to the forefront.
ALAN FORBES
Chair, CCI Communications Committee
1 Canada Plans Mandatory Energy Audits Before All Home Sales https://www.theenergymix.com/2022/03/04/canada-plans-mandatory-energy-audits-before-all-home-sales/
2 Canada Plans Mandatory Energy Audits Before All Home Sales
https://theenergymix.com/2022/03/04/canada-plans-mandatory-energy-audits-before-all-home-sales/
3 Home energy labels would lower emissions, reduce mystery for buyers, says Edmonton mayor, Made-laine Cummings, CBC News, 2021-09-28 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/energy-labels-should-be-mandatory-on-all-homes-edmonton-mayor-1.6191076
4 Natural Resources Canada EnerGuide https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/energy/efficiency/housing/Existing%20Housing%20ERS%20GJ%20label%20wtext%20-Eng.jpg
5 Manitoba Hydro Residential Rates https://www.hydro.mb.ca/accounts_and_services/rates/residential_rates/
From Issue
Vol. 9, Issue 2, April 2022
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