Alternative Approaches for Assessing the Energy Performance of Houses in Real Estate Transactions

Currently, there is no mandatory requirement to disclose energy performance of houses that are offered for resale in Real Estate Transactions in Southern Ontario. Homebuyers, therefore, do not have any idea of the energy performance of the houses they are aiming to buy. This Major Research Project (MRP) proposed two methods to homebuyers as alternatives to a full home energy audit that provide a good measure of the energy performance of houses on sale. These approaches are cheaper, simpler, and provide the energy rating of houses more quickly. In the first method, the house's utility billing data were used. A linear regression model was employed to split the bills into energy consumptions by end-uses, which were then compared to an appropriate EnerGuide Rating benchmark for determining the energy rating of the house. The second approach was based on the HOT 2000 energy simulation tool for construction of the energy model of the house. The simulated energy consumptions by end-uses were then compared to the EnerGuide Rating benchmark to determine the house's energy rating. These approaches were implemented using two case studies located in the Peel Region in Southern Ontario with satisfactory results.