Did you know that you can reduce emissions and save money by following four simple steps to get your home to net-zero emissions?

This can be done through climate mitigation. These are actions that reduce emissions, like improving the energy efficiency of our homes.

Not only is it good for the environment but it can save you money by lowering your utility bills, increase the property value of your home, and improve the comfort of your home.

We met up with Stephanie Ripley, a NAIT Alternative Energy Program graduate, and Rick Young, of Habitat Studio and Climate Ready Home collaborator, at the NAIT / City of Edmonton Climate Ready Home.

They walked us through the four steps of a net zero home pathway.

1. Get a Home Energy Evaluation

A home energy evaluation will help you plan out your energy efficiency investments as well as help you understand how each step is related.

The EnerGuide evaluation shows how much energy your home uses, and how each upgrade will reduce your energy consumption.

Check out this Tiny Explanation on How to Get an EnerGuide Evaluation.

2. Make it Tight and Insulate Right

Next, you’ll want to start with improvements to your building envelope—windows, doors, attic and walls.

For a helpful visual, take a look at My Heat Edmonton to see where heat loss is occurring at your home and what you can do about it.

You can prevent heat loss by expanding existing wall insulation, adding more insulation in the attic and replacing old windows with triple-pane glass. These upgrades will help significantly reduce heat loss in your home.

3. Add Net-Zero Ready Heating and Cooling

Stephanie told us that most of the energy used in Alberta homes is for heating. Now that your home is well-insulated and airtight, it requires a lot less energy to heat it. You now have the option to switch to a heat pump to heat and cool your home!

Heat pumps come in two varieties: an air source heat pump that extracts heat out of the outside air, or a ground-source heat pump which draws heat out of the earth (also known as geothermal or geoexchange). It’s best to talk to a professional to see which is best for your home.

Heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as a furnace at heating, and up to four times more efficient when cooling your home. Since they use electricity instead of gas, you can power them with a solar photovoltaic system.

This is exactly what Darcy and Darren Crichton did in their DIY home renovation.

4. Generate Your Own Renewable Energy

Now that you’ve reduced your energy consumption as much as possible, you’re ready for the fourth and final step: producing renewable energy on-site with solar power.

Solar can save you money and protect you from future energy price increases, and it is the final step in getting your home to zero emissions.

Changing For Climate is a series featuring everyday Edmontonians, businesses and organizations who are actively Changing for Climate—and getting us closer to our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

For more information, visit edmonton.ca/ChangingForClimateSeries.