The cost of environmental responsibility has become more affordable for Ontario advisors or clients who want to make their homes or workplaces “green.”

Toronto-based credit union Alterna Savings has teamed up with GreenSaver — a non-profit, fee-for-service environmental audit and retrofit delivery agent in the Toronto area — to provide loans for Ontario’s businesses and homes to become more energy-efficient.

The Alterna GreenSaver Green Improvement Loan was created to provide money up front to businesses that haven’t considered retrofitting because of the immediate expenses involved.

STEEP BUY-IN

The federal government and some provincial governments offer rebates for environmental retrofitting, but Vladan Veljovic, GreenSaver’s president and CEO, says the incentives only appeal to home and business owners who can afford the steep buy-in of making their buildings energy-efficient.

“Business owners are too busy to focus on these things and don’t have the money to focus on them,” says Veljovic.

Rebate money from the government isn’t available until after retrofits are complete and have been certified as energy-efficient improvements to the building. The costs can run upward of $500 for an audit, and a further $3,000 for the actual retrofitting work.

Veljovic says GreenSaver and Alterna have designed the best short-term loan available to offset the costs.

“We discussed possible action in the energy-efficient markets; what to do for assessments,” says Kimberley Ney, Alterna’s senior vice president of marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility.

“GreenSaver audits homes and businesses, and provides reports on what clients need to do,” she explains. “We provide the fast-tracking of loans for clients who don’t have cash on hand to retrofit. It’s one of our core competencies.”

“We’ve structured the loan in such a way that GreenSaver will do at least the audit,” Veljovic says. “We can’t do all the retrofits, but not all the places that do retrofits are licensed to do general audits.”

After clients have GreenSaver complete an audit of their business, for example, they can apply through GreenSaver for the Alterna GreenSaver loan. Once the application is faxed to Alterna, approval is granted within 48 hours, says Ney. Alterna grants a minimum $2,500 loan for a preferred variable rate at prime. Loans for less are granted at Alterna’s regular lending rates.

“There are a lot of incentives out there, such as government grants and rebates,” Ney says. “We’re providing financing to take incentive into action. A lot of grants wouldn’t cover actual costs.”

GreenSaver’s environmental assessments include an examination of lighting and electricity use, the heating and air-conditioning system, as well as pressurizing and depressurizing the building to identify leaks around caulking, windows and doors where heat may be escaping.

Completed audits will then provide clients with detailed blueprints for cost-effective energy-saving strategies that will implement changes in the building’s heating system, air conditioning, ventilation and water heating.

OWNER’S CHOICE

Clients can opt to use Green-Saver’s construction company to implement the recommendations for insulation, sealing of gaps and draftproofing, or they can select another company to carry out the recommended changes.

In addition to becoming environmentally friendly, businesses save money on natural gas and electricity bills. GreenSaver’s studies have shown a 20% average saving in electrical bills after retrofitting, and the owners are left with a more comfortable environment.

One of the most cost-effective ways to achieve energy efficiency is also the easiest, Veljovic says. Simple adjustments to lighting and electricity can save surprising amounts of energy, while also providing a good payback.

“The whole idea is not to create big capital costs, but to look at cost-effective ways to save money in the short and the long term,” Veljovic says, describing GreenSaver’s goal to execute changes that are economically possible while significantly reducing energy use.

Both Ney and Veljovic agree that energy-efficient changes will pay for themselves over time. In the meantime, they are trying to make the process as simple as possible to appeal to as many home and business owners as they can.

“We really want to encourage everyone to take global warming seriously and have an energy-efficiency audit done,” Ney says. “GreenSaver makes it easy; this is not a cumbersome process at all. An audit will show what improvements and significant changes to the building will cost in the long run — financially for the owner and also for the environment.” IE

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