SRC AND CMHC UNVEIL ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT

The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing

Corporation (CMHC) unveiled an ambitious research project on saving energy in

existing homes.



Funded by the CMHC, the SRC project will result in work on six homes in

Saskatoon this year with the ambitious target of improving each home's natural

gas and electrical consumption by 40 per cent.



"This is not a theoretical project. It's practical," mechanical engineer Rob

Dumont said. Dumont is the head of the SRC's Building Performance Section.

"We'll provide a detailed analysis to the homeowner of how energy and

electrical savings can be achieved."



The SRC submitted a Request For Proposal to the CMHC last year and was awarded

the $69,000 project. Each homeowner, who receives a token $1,000 honorarium

for participating in the project, is responsible for all capital costs

associated with the recommended changes.



"CMHC research has shown that if we want to stabilize greenhouse gas production

from Canadian housing, existing houses will have to reduce their energy

consumption by roughly 40 per cent," Don Fugler, CMHC senior researcher said.

"This project will test if savings of this magnitude are achievable in typical

houses."



Primary assessment of one of the homes (1526 Alexandra Avenue) began today.

Built about 1910, the two-story house with an attached porch is located north

of the city's downtown district. A special door was installed which blows air

out of the home. This allows the three-member SRC research team to determine

leakage areas such as windows, baseboards, electrical outlets and holes in the

attic.



"The end result of this project is that the SRC will provide a detailed report

for the homeowner showing what things could be done such as replacing a furnace

or making insulation better," Dumont said. "We'll estimate the cost to do the

work and the natural gas and electrical savings from that work. We'll also

figure out how long these retrofit changes will take to be paid back in terms

of lower energy and electrical bills."



Reports on the six different homes will be made available to the public when

work is completed in the fall of 2002, Dumont said.



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For more information, contact:



Rob Dumont Halyna Tataryn

Saskatchewan Research Council Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp

Saskatoon Alberta

Phone: (306) 933-6216 Phone: (403) 515-2958