Well, the much awaited Energy Audit report arrived in the mail on Monday and I was about as excited as a 3 year old at Christmas as I ripped into it. Silly, to be that excited, and I can't really explain why, but I was always the kid who was happy on report card day too. So I open it up to see a glaring 61 out of 100 staring back at me.

I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed, and maybe even a bit embarrassed? I consider myself a prudent homeowner who performs regular maintenance and I really try to keep the homestead running like a well oiled machine. And here it is in black and white... proof that it leaks like a sieve and sucks non-renewable resources like they are going out of style!

I was getting groceries today and as usual, I toted along my reusable bags. As the flexibility of my career allows, this happened to be at about 11:00 A.M., my usual shopping time (I usually shoot for Tuesdays and Wednesdays as they seem to be the least busy and then I can have the store to myself, aside from the handful of senior citizens that join me). As I was standing in line at the checkout, a nice elderly lady in front of me made a comment about the three boxes of diapers (on sale and oh yeah, I had coupons too!) I had just placed up on the belt. It went something like this:

Welcome to my second post in the series, Recycle This House - 52 Weeks to a Greener Home. In my first post, I talked about my reasons for starting this project, including the ideals of living lighter on the earth and keeping more greenbacks in my pocket. I know the why, but I am learning the how as I go.

To get an idea of where I wanted to go with this project, I felt that I first needed to know where I was starting. So last week, I called up Ryan Leavitt at AmeriSpec Home Inspection Services to schedule a residential energy evaluation. The purpose of the energy "audit" as I like to call it, was to identify how my home uses energy and where it is being wasted. It is also a necessary first step in being able to qualify for the $5000 in Canadian Federal Grants available to homeowners under the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program. I will repeat this as it is very important: You MUST have the initial audit done in order to qualify for the grants.

As a real estate agent, I partake daily in the biggest recycling project on the planet, that being the sale and purchase of homes that have previously been lived in, also known as "resale" homes. I am a big fan of older homes (and for simplicity's sake, let's consider an "older" home to be anything past 20 years of age) and feel that they have certain advantages over new builds. They are usually located on larger lots in established neighborhoods and include mature landscaping. And if you are buying an "old" home (70+ years) you are likely to find the wonderful character that is typical of homes built in that particular time period.

I myself have lived in an "older" home (built in 1981) for the past 6 years. When we purchased it in 2002, it was in need of cosmetic upgrades (paint, flooring, fixtures) which we have completed over the years. We also replaced the roof in 2006. But recently, I have been comparing notes with many of my friends living in new homes and it has become to very apparent to me that there are so many more upgrades that we can make in order to reduce our energy consumption and costs.