The adoption of energy efficient residential building technology in Canada: understanding Canadian adoption levels

Abstract

Canadians have access to an abundance of relatively low cost energy and Canadians are very high consumers of energy. Residential energy use accounts for 16% of total energy use in Canada and is a significant contributor to GHG emissions. A typical Canadian home uses energy for space heating, domestic hot water and lights, appliances and mechanical equipment. Many tried and proven technologies are available to reduce energy use in residential homes. The Government of Canada has implemented the EcoENERGY Program to encourage Canadians to implement these technologies. Many provinces have followed with similar matching programs. Homeowners investing in energy saving technologies through the EcoENERGY program will recognize two types of economic benefits. The first benefit is the EcoENERGY grant. This grant is a one-time payment based on the technologies that are implemented by the homeowner. The second benefit is the reduction in energy costs. This reduction in energy costs is on-going and will benefit the homeowner long in to the future. The objective of this study is to assess the levels of adoption of these technologies and to determine the impact the grants and energy cost savings are having on adoption of the technologies. The research was completed in three phases. The first phase was a study of adoption theory. The second phase was research on the EcoENERGY program including the technologies used in construction of energy efficient homes, the impact those technologies have on energy consumption and the federal and provincial grants available to homeowners implementing the technologies. The third phase was the analysis of a Natural Resources Canada database of over 640,000 homeowners that enrolled in the EcoENERGY program between its conception in 2006 and June 30, 2010. The research clearly supports the argument that grants impact the level of adoption of the energy saving technologies. The research also shows that although the energy savings from the implementation of the technologies is higher than the grants, energy savings do not appear to impact the level of adoption.