AmeriSpec Licensed to do Canadian Energy Audits

[hausdok]

TORONTO, April 12

Canadian homeowners will be big winners now that the Federal Government has officially launched its ecoENERGY Retrofit initiative, offering financial incentives to Canadians who improve their home's energy efficiency. Natural Resources of Canada's (NRCan) program is a replacement for the extremely popular EnerGuide for Houses program cancelled by the Government last May.

NRCan has licensed AmeriSpec Inspection Services, Canada's leading home inspection company, to perform residential energy evaluations that identify how homes use energy and where it is being wasted. AmeriSpec evaluators will show homeowners how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce heating and cooling costs and improve comfort in their homes, while ensuring adequate ventilation for a healthy indoor environment.

To take advantage of the program, homeowners first must complete an assessment by a licensed energy evaluator who will determine the home's current energy rating. The service includes: a detailed energy evaluation of the home, a blower door test to find air leaks, a printed report that shows where energy dollars are being spent, recommendations on what homeowners can do to improve their home's energy efficiency and an energy efficiency rating label that shows how efficient their home is compared to other homes in their region.

Using the report's recommendations, homeowners have 18 months to complete upgrades. Grants of up to $5,000 are available based on individual retrofit initiatives. The average grant is expected to be close to $1,100. Homeowners can expect to receive their cheque within 90 days of the follow-up evaluation.

Many provinces have recently announced that they will cover a portion of the evaluation cost and/or offer additional grant monies.

"With this new program, homeowners can determine exactly what grants they may expect when they complete energy upgrades to their homes," said Colin Smyth, Business Leader, AmeriSpec of Canada.

According to NRCan, once homeowners complete their required energy evaluation and make some or all of the recommended improvements; they can expect federal grants such as:

• Furnace upgrades - up to $600
• Install a heat recovery ventilator - up to $300
• Upgrade your central air conditioner to an Energy Star® unit- $200
• Retrofit doors and/or windows to Energy Star®
• $30 for each unit

17 percent of all energy used in Canada goes towards running our homes. As many as 140,000 homeowners are expected to benefit from this national and provincial initiative. "By completing all of the retrofits recommended by an AmeriSpec evaluator, homeowners should be in a position to decrease their average annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 4.6 tonnes per year, per house and they should also be able to reduce their energy bills by 38 percent - a huge win for everyone!", Mr. Smyth added.

To book an appointment, or for additional information on the ecoENERGY program, call 1-(866) 284-6010, or visit www.amerispec.ca/ecoenergy.

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ABOUT AMERISPEC: AmeriSpec of Canada - celebrating its 20th anniversary this year - is Canada's Leading Home Inspection Service. As the recognized industry leader, AmeriSpec - owned by ServiceMaster - has performed over 250,000 building and home inspections nationwide and is Canada's single largest provider of energy retrofit evaluations. AmeriSpec of Canada is now working under license with Natural Resources Canada, with over 70 franchise locations from coast to coast.

For further information: media may contact: Vivian Konney, Media Relations, AmeriSpec of Canada, (905) 670-0000 x 433, vkonney@smclean.com