Ontario’s Green Energy Act to Mandate Energy Audits!!

The Ontario Government has recently had first reading of Bill 150, The Green Energy Act. Although, I applaud the decision to bring forward GREEN Issues at this time but I have some concerns: 1) At present, the dust has not settled on who will be the group to set levels of energy efficiency. There are a number of groups fighting to make their "seal of approval" the acceptable level. I think that will be easier said than done but this should not be rushed into to be fashionably GREEN. 2) With somewhere just over 400 Registered Building Inspectors in the Province as yet untrained in this newer area, how the Government expects to make this new law mandatory on the sale of property is beyond reality. 3) At present the Ontario Government does not mandate Building Inspections or Seller Property Information Sheets in the sale of Property in the Province. Are we not leapfrogging over these important issues that have long been a part of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and can lead to great controversy.

I would like to think that this Bill is not just today's fashion or window dressing to cover over some of the major issues that the Province of Ontario is facing.

The Toronto Real Estate Board recently said:Under the proposed Green Energy Act, home owners would be required to provide information regarding the home's energy efficiency prior to the sale or lease of the property. Energy efficiency information about the property would have to be determined and provided by standardized methods established by the provincial government. The Province has not yet provided information on these details. The legislation, if passed, would allow the provincial government to prescribe:

· what energy efficiency information has to be provided and in what manner;

· the cost of home energy efficiency audits; 

· the types of residences that these requirements would apply to; and,

• under what circumstances and at what times these requirements would be effective.

Here is the response to the Government from the Ontario Real Estate Association.

To be clear, I like the goal but I see it as premature as a mandated program by the Government and worry that without proper attention it could open a can of worms.

REPOSTED FROM: http://torontoism.com/2009/03/02/ontarios-green-energy-act-to-mandate-energy-audits/