Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update Members on an important initiative being undertaken by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
As Members are well aware, the challenges of rising fuel costs and climate change have forced all of us to place a renewed focus on energy efficiency. One of the most important places where energy improvements can be made is in the home. As winter approaches, we encourage homeowners and tenants alike to explore the many options available to them to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and mitigate the high cost of fuel.
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is also making significant efforts to improve the energy efficiency of its housing stock. One of the most important efforts we are making is an assessment of existing housing designs to identify areas of enhancement that can achieve energy savings. While the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has been delivering high quality housing for decades, as the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation I have directed my officials to move to the next level in terms of energy efficiency and conservation.
Over the coming year the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation will develop design plans to ensure that building envelopes and heating and ventilating systems in future construction projects achieve, at a minimum, an EnerGuide 80 rating. As an example, an EnerGuide 80 rating would typically require an R28 insulated wall, an R50 ceiling and an R40 floor, among other improvements. The EnerGuide rating system is used by Natural Resources Canada to evaluate the energy efficiency of a building. The EnerGuide 80 standard is the benchmark for high energy efficiency.
The EnerGuide 80 score standard has been adopted by other provincial and municipal jurisdictions as the minimum score for a highly efficient home. The design enhancements for the NWT Housing Corporation will be finalized by mid 2009 in time for implementation for the 2010 construction season.
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is coordinating with Arctic Energy Alliance to conduct ecoENERGY evaluations on existing public housing units to establish EnerGuide ratings over the next six months. Evaluations on 70 to 100 public housing units are scheduled to be completed by April 2009. This will help determine the greatest emission/cost reduction for future energy retrofit upgrades.
As Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation I also feel strongly that improvements to our home designs are the right thing to do. It will save our clients money and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is one of the many energy efficient initiatives being undertaken by this government through the GNWT’s Energy Plan and Greenhouse Gas Strategy and serves as an example of how small improvements can go a long way in helping to protect our environment.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
