Whether you’re renovating, selling or buying a home, an NRGwise Energy Advisor can identify where you can save energy and money.

Now that everyone is spending more time at home, the comfort of being home is more important. As people consider renovations or moves, many don’t realize one of the first steps should be an energy assessment. Being wise about energy makes sense – and dollars and cents.

Saving money
An Energy Advisor examines your home to provide a roadmap that outlines ways to improve – and ways that can also save money. Paul Gagliardi, founder of NRGwise Consulting, says he often hears the response: “I had no idea until my contractor told me.”

Gagliardi grew up in the construction industry, working with his father in Sault Ste. Marie and then became a Registered Home Inspector after moving to London to attend university. Knowing the construction, inspection, and assessment sides of the business is an advantage. He founded Buy Wise Consulting as a home inspection company and then obtained a licence to train advisors. Standards are established by Natural Resources Canada and advisors must write exams every three years to renew their licences.

Saving energy
Gagliardi recently changed the name to NRGwise Consulting to better reflect the energy-saving focus of the business. “It’s the same company, the same process, the same good customer service,” he said.

His advisors cover Ontario and he has trained more than 150 across Canada.

They identify savings and rebate opportunities and create a plan to meet the needs and budget of the homeowner to save on energy and utility bills, upgrades and renovations. Their initial report is the first step to qualifying for government or utility rebates.

Simple process
• A licensed Energy Advisor spends one to two hours assessing the energy efficiency of a home.
• They write a report that outlines where and how improvements can be made.
• Those can be implemented in stages or at one time, in full or partially. Homeowners can prioritize.
• Once energy upgrades are completed, the advisor returns to provide a rating for the house and a full report.

The federal government announced in December that a new rebate program was being developed. Watch for details here in the spring.