ST. THOMAS —Joe Preston, Member of Parliament for Elgin– Middlesex–London, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, announced today that the Government will provide funding of $40,000 over two years for a pilot project to incorporate renewable energy in new homes.

“Canada’s New Government is proud to be a partner in this project, which will showcase how progressive builders can promote renewable energy technology in the homes they build,” said Mr. Preston. “Its success will raise interest in the home-building industry and will hopefully lead many other builders to promote renewable energy.”

Over the next 18 months, Doug Tarry Homes Limited, a home builder in St. Thomas, Ontario, will build about 100 “Solar Ready” homes. These homes will have the rough-in for solar hot-water panels done during construction. Home buyers can choose to have the panels installed immediately or wait and install them at a later date at a reduced retrofit cost because the homes were built to be ready for solar energy. Solar Ready also gives buyers of new homes a more efficient and environmentally responsible home choice.

“This project will allow home buyers to save from 40 to 50 percent on their home heating and hot-water energy bills, when compared with homes built to conventional codes in Ontario,” said Doug Tarry Jr., Director of Marketing and co-owner of Doug Tarry Homes.

Doug Tarry Homes already meets ENERGY STAR® levels of performance in its new homes. ENERGY STAR is the international symbol of energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR Initiative in Canada is administered by Natural Resources Canada.

Natural Resources Canada’s funding will go toward integrating Solar Ready into the construction process and to promote Solar Ready to builders and buyers of new homes.