Presentation to CHBA Canadian Renovator’s Council Banff, Alberta Feb 24, 2011

1. Energy-Efficient Retrofits for Houses 11 Oakwood - 2009 Presentation to CHBA Canadian Renovator’s Council Banff, Alberta Feb 24, 2011

2. Study Goals • Create Fact Sheets to show owners and builders energy retrofits that: • reduce heating energy by 10% and 25% • are durable • are affordable • are good practice • don’t damage the environment • comply with Code

3. Outline of presentation • What does the study do? • looks at 4 ‘typical’ Canadian houses • looks at 6 cities in different climatic regions • uses Hot2000 to model two scales of retrofit: • 10% less heating energy • 25% less heating energy • shows detailed drawings of each retrofit • estimates extra cost of energy features • fact sheet for each house type ‘Now House’ (before) - 2007

4. 4 Typical House Types • Similar construction • Quality improves as time progresses • House forms present a variety of construction challenges

5. 4 Typical House Types • Different construction periods: • Victory House • 98 m2 (1050 ft2) with 60 m2 (650 ft2) bsm’t • built 1949 – 1960 • Raised Bungalow • 170 m2 (1830 ft2) built 1960 – 1967 • Two-storey • 165 m2 (1775 ft2) with 83 m2 (895 ft2) bsm’t • built 1977 – 1983 • Semi-detached or Row • 160 m2 (1750 ft2) built after1945

6. 6 Cities • Different construction for each base case house type: • Air changes per hour • RSI values • Windows Proposed Base-case construction for the Victory House (1949 – 1960)* *NRCan survey data

7. 6 Cities • Different performance for each period of construction: • Air changes per hour decrease • RSI values increase • Window RSI values increase Proposed Base-case construction for Semi-detached (post -1949 construction) *NRCan survey data

8. Hot2000 Energy Modeling • How does each retrofit option affect the amount of energy needed to heat the house? • Which retrofits are most energy effective? • What are optimal R-values? (diminishing returns)

9. Hot2000 Energy Modeling Results of individual retrofit measures (as a percentage of reduction from base case)

10. 10% less heating energy • Small renovations with big effects on energy use: • Air sealing • Adding minor insulation to: • roof/attic • above-grade walls • basement Roof Insulation Basement Insulation

11. 25% less heating energy • Large renovations with big effects on energy use: • Air sealing • Adding major insulation to: • attic • above-grade walls • basement walls • basement slab • Replacing windows with high performance windows Wall Insulation

12. Details • 10% less heating energy: • Air seal • Add insulation to roof/attic • Add insulation to basement wall • Add insulation to above-grade wall • Alternatives: • Insulate inside • Insulate outside Above-grade Wall Basement Wall

13. Details • 25% less heating energy: • Air seal • Add insulation in attic • Add insulation in basement • Add insulation to above-grade wall • Add insulation to slab • Replace windows with high-performance windows • Alternatives: • Insulate inside • Insulate outside Exposed Floor Above-grade wall

14. Costs • Cost-effective retrofits: • Air seal • Add insulation to attic/roof • Add insulation in basement • Add insulation to above-grade wall • Add insulation to slab • Replace windows with high-performance windows $ Remove roof framing Extend dormer to wall $ Increasing cost Sealed polyethylene A/B Finished room

15. Costs • Cost-effective retrofits: $ $ Increasing cost

16. Costs • Simple Payback method is difficult to sell to a client Incremental cost of retrofit divided by savings in energy = Simple payback (years) • Retrofit costs look better when they’re added to a mortgage

17. Fact Sheets • 2 fact sheets per house type (10%, 25% less energy) include: • Building envelope issues likely to be encountered • Cost-effective renovations to save energy • Construction details • Sustainable building practices • Check list of construction tasks • Approximate costs for each city • Other energy-saving improvements • Useful references ‘Victory House’ - 1949 ‘Now House’ (after) - 2009

18. Questions? Thank you!