Visit Climate Friendly Homes in Kamloops to see firsthand what people are doing to make their homes more comfortable and climate friendly.
What is a Climate Friendly Home? A Climate Friendly Home is an energy-efficient home that uses a heat pump for primary heating and cooling as well as cooking. A Climate Friendly Home can also have lots of other useful features that make the home more sustainable, comfortable to live in, cheaper to operate, and more!
Check out homes in Kamloops and see which homes you would like to visit on the tour.
You can preview each home and learn about the measures that have been implemented to make the home climate friendly by browsing the map and selecting each home.
Once you have found the places you would like to view, you can plan a route for your tour. Neighbourhood parking may be limited so it is encouraged that you get there by taking more sustainable modes of transport like walking, cycling, or public transit.
When you visit each home, please remember to ask the homeowner questions about their experience getting their upgrades and how they are working for them. Local energy experts may be in attendance at select locations to answer more technical questions.
Kamloops is committed to transitioning to a low-carbon future.
Supporting home energy upgrades is just one of the ways the City is taking action to address climate change and make our community more climate resilient. Learn more about these strategies in the Community Climate Action Plan.
For new homes and buildings Kamloops aims to support the transition to high-performance, energy-efficient and zero-carbon homes and buildings.
For existing homes and buildings, Kamloops aims to support rapid and large-scale retrofits to existing homed and building that result in energy efficiency improvements and switching to low-carbon energy sources.
What Makes a Home Climate Friendly?
A Climate Friendly Home:
- Uses an electric heat pump for efficient heating in the winter and cooling in the summer
- Has an efficient electric hot water tank or heat pump hot water heater
- Is well-insulated and draft-free for greater comfort and lower energy bills
- Features energy efficiency appliances, such as induction stoves
- Is generating its own energy with renewable energy technologies
Where to Start
Build Energy Smart - NEEDS TO BE UPDATED
In 2019, the City of Rossland was an early adopter of the BC Energy Step Code, which sets performance requirements for new construction and groups them into “steps”. Although required in Rossland since January 2022, as of May 1, 2023, the BC Building Code requires 20% better energy efficiency (equivalent to Step 3) for all new buildings in B.C.
For those wanting to build an even more efficient home, incentives are available for Rossland residents reaching Step 4 and 5 (Net Zero Ready). Incentives for new builds are also available through FortisBC’s New Home Program.
Check out the City’s Building site to learn more about building your home in Rossland.
Help with your retrofit journey
To support the goal for existing homes and buildings, Kamloops will soon be launching a retrofit program to help homeowners navigate the process of improving home energy efficiency. To express your interest, please complete the form below.
FORM TO BE ADDED