Energy Poverty Reduction & Home Upgrades Program

The Energy Poverty Reduction & Home Upgrades Program aims to reduce energy poverty by offering free energy efficiency education and home upgrades to families living in Calgary and Edmonton. This program delivers Alberta’s first program to help homeowners and renters reduce their energy costs through a combination of education and targeted home upgrades. The program will bring energy efficiency upgrades to 200 households experiencing energy poverty across Calgary and Edmonton.

Understanding how the experience of energy poverty intersects with home conditions within Alberta is a critical aspect in designing an effective and impactful program. The energy efficiency issues of a home are unique across jurisdictions including building codes, climate, moisture levels, weather and temperature, and rates of uptake of home retrofit programming. In addition to cost, the energy efficiency of a home impacts carbon emissions. Buildings account for upwards of 60% of the urban emissions in Calgary and Edmonton and the real estate profession can play a role in ensuring that homeowners from all walks of life can participate in our energy transition, and experience improved affordability.

The program is delivered in partnership from Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and Empower Me, and is funded by the City of Calgary, the Calgary Foundation, the City of Edmonton, ENMAX, the Suncor Energy Foundation, and the McConnell Foundation.

The Alberta Real Estate Foundation is supporting the evaluation, data analysis, research, and policy recommendations that will mobilize the learnings and catalyze the awareness-building for how to deliver long-term programs in the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, and across Alberta. The collected data will demonstrate the impact a program can have on our climate goals and the overall investment needed to address energy poverty.

Visit Website Read the Calgary News Release

Built Environment – Support research, policy development and reform to address climate change and/or energy efficiency in support of the real estate industry and consumers.