Last fall, the City was invited to be part of a pilot program called BC's Home Energy Planner. It is a free interactive tool for citizens to get a picture of their home's energy use. The idea of the planner is to help residents determine their home's carbon emissions and ways to reduce them.

The website also provides information on rebates available for heat pumps and other improvements. For residents, who do all the steps in the planner and are serious about taking action, the city will subsidize an energy consultant to come to their home to get the detailed information.

NewWest.tv wanted to find out about the uptake of the program in New West. Journalist Susan Millar interviewed Engineer Leya Behra, who is Deputy Director of the city's Climate Action Program.

In this program, she provides an overview of the pilot program, the number of people who have visited the website, and the number of people who have followed the step by step approach all the way to taking action.

Many of you know that a few years ago, the city committed to Seven Bold Steps to Climate Action. Leya knows all about the climate challenges and actions in the city. As she says, homes vie with transportation as the main cause of carbon emissions in the city. Naturally, it is a key concern here.

Leya provided an excellent overview of the Home Energy Planner and a whole lot more. We got into the details on a host of topics, including

    •    Home energy conservation measures you can take – some inexpensive and effective.
    •    The pros and cons of types of various heating and cooling systems – heat pump technology included.
    •    How to determine the energy use of your appliances and lighting and what to consider when buying new.
    •    And the new technologies that are coming on stream including innovative heat pump technologies for rental buildings and strata... and whole lot more.