Homeowners expecting to cash in on rebates offered by the federal government for doing energy-efficiency renovations should do their homework before spending their money, judging by the results of a program in Calgary.

Depending on what kinds of improvements are made and how much is spent, homeowners may not actually qualify for a rebate under Ottawa’s scheme, or it might not be as big as expected.

There is also a separate program being offered for businesses.

The Winter Warm-up Event, a program co-ordinated by the City of Calgary and launched in December 2002, offered three Calgary homeowners a free energy makeover/retrofit.

The program received funding support from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Alberta’s Climate Change Central.

In just one week, more than 1,300 Calgarians applied for a free federal EnerGuide for Housing (EGH) home evaluation and one of three free energy makeover/retrofits, valued respectively at $1,000, $2,000 and $4,000.

Greg Martineau Projects, selected by an open tendering process administered by the CMHC, completed the retrofits in late February this year.

The relative improvements to each of the three houses were calculated according to an EGH scale that assigns an energy efficiency rating value of between one and 100 points. The higher the rating, the more energy efficient the home is.

Homeowners will need an EGH evaluation to qualify for rebates under the $79.4-million program that Ottawa announced in August – part of a $1-billion federal Kyoto implementation package to reduce greenhouse gases.

The $1,000 retrofit, on a 1978 two-storey, 1,260-sq.-ft. home in Coach Hill in southwest Calgary, included increasing attic insulation, installing attic draft proofing, and weather stripping and caulking all doors and windows.

The EGH rating, however, increased only one point, from 65 to 66. That wouldn’t have qualified the homeowners for any federal rebate.

The $2,000 retrofit, on a 1953 bungalow (856 sq. ft.) in Altadore in the southwest, included attic insulation and draft-proofing the attic, framing and insulating the basement, and weather stripping and caulking all doors and windows.

The EGH rating on the bungalow increased from 54 to 64 points – qualifying the homeowner for a $464 rebate.

The $4,000 retrofit, on a 1964 bi-level (1,286 sq. ft.) in the Varsity area in the northwest, included attic insulation and attic draft proofing, weather stripping and caulking all doors and windows, and installing a new, high-efficiency natural gas furnace.

The EGH rating rose from 51 to 70, qualifying the owner for a rebate of $1,011.

The city says utility bills will be monitored at all three properties over the next year to determine the cost savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with each renovation.

In the $1 billion announced last month, Ottawa also provided $47 million to expand the Commercial Buildings Incentive Program, aimed at making new buildings more energy efficient.

There was also $57 million for the Energy Innovators Initiative, to encourage commercial businesses and public institutions to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency in existing buildings.