EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Home performance is a holistic approach to identifying and addressing homeowners' energy efficiency, comfort, health, and safety related issues to make a home perform better. It is estimated that nearly 500,000 single detached houses in BC may benefit from home performance upgrades. Whole home performance renovations in BC can assist utilities meet energy conservation targets and governments meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. It could represent a four-billion dollar industry over the next 10 years and more in the longer term supporting job creation and business development in communities across the province.

In order to realize this market potential, the issues of demand: Demand for Quality Home Performance projects and Supply: Availability of Quality Contractors to do Home Performance work must be addressed. To this end, the HPSC Sector Councils have identified the following goals:

  • Increase awareness of house as a system concepts and practices.
  • Define and increase the capacity of trained home performance professionals.
  • Provision of clear and stable market signals that illustrate the need and desire for house-as-a-system renovations.
  • Build a clear and definitive brand that communicates that carrying out a home performance project is a wise decision and there are recognized contractors who provide quality work.
  • Establish a functioning, systematic approach to consultation between industry, utilities and governments.

This roadmap summarizes a cross industry view of the HPSC recommended priority initiatives of:

  • Contractor Accreditation & Trades Training (Phase 1)
  • Home Performance Training (for trades and contractors)
  • Quality Assurance / Inspections
  • Consumer Education & Awareness

Each Sector Council has developed a Working Roadmap that may be consulted for fuller understanding of individual industry sector needs.

Industry, utilities, and government working openly together to incrementally raise the professionalism of the home performance industry in step with communicating a clear and consistent market signal for house-as-a-system renovations will promote quality products and installation, increasing customer satisfaction and ensuring real energy and greenhouse gas savings.