We’ve had a busy fall at Airtight Engineering! In addition to our design work, we’ve also been gearing up to teach a series of training sessions for Saskatchewan real estate agents called Getting Real About Home Energy, in collaboration with the City of Saskatoon and the Saskatchewan REALTORS Association, and with funding support from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
These training sessions are focused on outlining best-practices for energy efficiency, offering insight into current energy codes and incentive programs in Saskatchewan, and providing tools for real estate agents to buy and sell energy efficient homes.
We hosted the first session on November 9th with 34 real estate agents in attendance. There was excellent engagement from the participants, and lots of great questions that helped us dive deeper into topics relating to energy efficiency in Saskatchewan. One thing participants were curious to learn more about was heat pumps - What do they do? Do they work in Saskatchewan winters? How much do they cost? How energy efficient are they? We always love the opportunity to tailor our training content to the specific interests of our participants!
During the training we had the chance to show off a couple of useful tools from the City of Saskatoon. This included a demo of the City of Saskatoon’s brand new Home Energy Map tool that uses property data to estimate and provide a benchmark of home energy efficiency for homes across the city. We also had the chance to show participants the City of Saskatoon’s Solar Map, a tool for estimating feasibility, cost, and payback for home rooftop solar installation. Both of these tools are extremely handy for those looking to increase the energy efficiency of their home.
Another topic we were able to cover was the upcoming energy code changes happening in Saskatchewan in January. It’s important for real estate agents to understand how these changes will impact housing trends and features.
Overall it was a valuable training with lots of discussion and learning that will help the real estate agents who participated to effectively support their clients when it comes to home energy efficiency. We will be working to fine-tune the course using the feedback we received from this first session in order to maximize the value for the coming sessions.
We’re excited to provide this training and to help further knowledge in Saskatchewan around the comfort, health, financial, and environmental benefits that come from energy efficient buildings.
If you’re a real estate agent and interested in learning more, we’re offering this training again on multiple dates in 2024 and 2025. Check out our website for more details and to register!