On October 6,2024, visit Climate Friendly Homes in Kimberley 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 has been built or retrofit to reduce the energy demand and carbon emissions of the building. Whether it reaches higher steps of the BC Energy Step Code, uses the most efficient heating, cooling and hot water systems or has an improved building envelope with added insulation and highly efficient windows, a Climate Friendly Home can have lots of features that make the home more sustainable, comfortable to live in, cheaper to operate, and more!
Check out the map below to find Climate Friendly Homes in Kimberley. You can preview each home and learn about the measures implemented to make the home climate-friendly and select the homes you would like to visit.
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 or designate questions about the experience getting their upgrades and how they are working for them. Local energy experts may attend at select locations to answer more technical questions.
After the tour, check the resources at betterhomesbc.ca to help you take the next step, regardless of where you are at in your retrofit journey. There are also thousands of dollars in available incentives for various upgrades, including heat pumps.
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 induction stove for fast, safe and cleaner cooking
- Has an efficient electric hot water tank or heat pump hot water heater
- Is well-insulated and draft-free for greater comfort and the lowest possible energy bills
- Has no appliances or systems that burn fossil fuels, such as natural gas, propane or oil
Where to Start
Regardless of where you are in your home retrofit journey, there are plenty of free support programs and available incentives to help you take the next step to reduce emissions and increase energy efficiency.
- Head over to the Canada Greener Homes page to find out about Federal incentives and options.
- Check out Clean BC to see the Provincial incentives
- BC Hydro also has a range of rebates that you may be eligible for