We provide evaluation, testing, and consultation of energy efficiency and building performance of single family and multi-family residential buildings.

For more details on our specific services, please see the following pages:

Homeowners

Home Builders

An EnerGuide Energy Evaluation involves collecting data on all aspects of your house, completing energy modelling, and providing results that estimated represent the energy use of the home.

This data can be used to guide upgrade choices that would lower the energy use or utility costs of the home, improve comfort and durability, and/or access provincial and federal incentive programs.

For more info on EnerGuide Evaluations, click Here

On average, the first evaluation of your home will take the Energy Advisor 2-3 hours in your home to complete.

We are available across Manitoba to help you with your energy efficiency needs.

Rural and Northern areas of the province may take a bit more planning to schedule to reduce travel costs on the homeowners.

Send us an email if you have any questions

An Energy Advisor is certified by Natural Resources Canada to provide EnerGuide Rating System Evaluations.

The EnerGuide Rating System is a standardized tool for assessing the energy use of single family and multi-family residential buildings in Canada.

Our homes are complex, made up of many individual systems that provide us a comfortable and safe place to live.

EnerGuide Evaluations help homeowners understand how energy is used in their home. Energy Advisors also discuss opportunities to reduce energy use, improve comfort and durability, as well as indoor air quality.

prairieHOUSE is a Manitoba based company, servicing the province for over 20 years. Our extreme focus on the prairie climate has made us uniquely qualified to understand the problems and solutions to the building needs of our homes.

We pride ourselves on our customer first approach, where we cater our advice to each homeowner. This way we can provide solutions that fit the Homeowners' needs, wants, and individual situations.

After your first EnerGuide Evaluation, you will be provided three documents:

The Energuide Label

The Homeowner Information Sheet

The Renovation Upgrade Report

Detailed information on each of these documents can be found throughout our website, as well as on the Natural Resources Canada website - Here

First off, we applaud you. A house that is more energy efficient will be more environmentally friendly, use less greenhouses and be more comfortable through its lifetime.

We encourage you to give us a call or send us an email. We work with homeowners and builders at any stage of their home building process to incorporate energy savings and durability measures into their home.

Ideally, you will have a preliminary set of plans and budget towards upgrades to share with us - then we can work with you to find solutions within your budget that meet your performance goals.

We encourage you to give us a call or send an email to talk about your home. The size and features of your home, window quantity and type, orientation, and choice of mechanical systems can all influence your eligibility for available rebate programs.

Once we review and talk to you about your plans, the next step is to complete an EnerGuide Evaluation of your building plans to see the performance and it is estimated to be eligible for any programs.

Working with us to complete an energy model and heat loss/heat gain calculation of your house is the best way to gauge how your mechanical systems should be sized for your home to avoid over or under sizing the equipment.

Reach out to us to at Newhomes@prairiehouse.ca to discuss your goals.

We will want to see some of your typical building plans and building practices to test the homes against the various energy tiers.

Once we have an understanding of how your builds are performing, we will work you to provide catered advice to plan for future energy tiers.

An estimated performance summary is a report that show the 'estimated' performance of your home before its been built.

The performance is based on your building plans, location, window selection, assumed mechanical systems and airtightness.

An estimated performance summary from prairieHOUSE is also a requirement for applying to the Efficiency Manitoba New Homes Program.

Completing an EnerGuide (ERS) Energy Evaluation on your house before its built is a great way to understand the homes energy use, and major heat loss locations.

Working with an Energy Advisor during the energy modelling process will also help to determine any durability measures or air sealing opportunities before you have started building.

If you have energy efficiency goals, or want to access rebate programs, and ERS evaluation will be necessary. We can then provide catered advice to reach your performance goals.

Airtightness is a measure of how well sealed the envelope of the home is. The envelope is the exterior barrier of the home that keeps the elements out and the heat in.

The more airtight the home, the less heat escapes. The less heat that escapes, the less hard your mechanical systems have to work to keep the house warm which in turn uses less energy.

Airtightness is also important in order to keep humidity and moisture out of the exterior walls, which helps maintain a more durable structure.

Building performance is a whole encompassing terms for how a house performs. This takes into consideration energy efficiency, durability, comfort, air quality, greenhouse gases, and much more.

The team here at prairieHOUSE Performance are experts in building performance, supporting the building and homeowner community in order to improve the impact and long term value of the homes we live in.

A ground source heat pump (GSHP) is an energy-efficient system that uses the stable temperature of the ground to heat and cool home and buildings.

It consists of pipes buried underground that transfer heat to and from the earth, helping to warm homes in winter and cool them in summer.

An air source heat pump (ASHP) is a system that heats and cools buildings by transferring heat from the outside air. In winter, it pulls heat from the air outside to warm your home, and in summer, it reverses the process to cool it down.

We work with homeowners and builders to properly size and select air source heat pumps for their homes.

You have any questions about heat pumps, please reach out to us!

Drain water heat recovery is a system that captures and reuses the heat from wastewater, such as water from showers, sinks, or washing machines.

As warm water flows down the drain, it passes through a heat exchanger, which transfers its heat to cold water coming into the system. This preheats the incoming cold water, reducing the energy needed to heat it for use in showers or taps.

This process enhances energy efficiency, lowers utility bills, and helps conserve water heating resources.

The "house as a system" concept views a home as an interconnected network where various components work together to create a comfortable and efficient living environment. This includes structural elements like walls and roofs that provide support and insulation, as well as HVAC systems that regulate temperature and air quality. Plumbing systems deliver water and manage waste, while electrical systems power lighting and appliances.

Additionally, the energy sources, such as electricity, gas, or renewables like solar panels, play a crucial role in how the home operates.

The way people use the space also significantly impacts the home’s efficiency and comfort. By understanding how these elements interact, homeowners can make informed decisions to enhance energy efficiency, comfort, and the overall performance of their home.

Operational carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the use of a building. This includes energy consumed for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering appliances. Essentially, it’s the carbon footprint generated while the building is occupied and functioning.

Embodied carbon is the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the materials used to construct the building. This includes emissions from extracting, manufacturing, transporting, and installing materials, as well as those from the building's eventual demolition or disposal.

much of the effort towards improving buildings pertains to operational carbon. As building codes evolve, understanding ways to reduce embodied carbon will become increasingly important