Windfall Ecology Centre

History

Windfall Ecology Centre was founded in 1998 by Brent Kopperson as a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to supporting sustainable communities. The creation of Windfall was inspired by a vision of healthy communities, where economic, social, and environmental needs achieve balance through social innovation, community partnership, and community action. Working at the nexus of energy, water, food, and people, Windfall researches, designs, and delivers innovative climate change solutions, like the City of Toronto’s NetZero Strategy for Existing Buildings, and the Toronto Solar Neighborhoods Initiative.

Windfall Ecology Centre has been a member of Green Communities Canada (GCC) for 24 years and recently won the GCC award for the most innovative new program, for its vHEAT initiative. The Durham Greener Homes retrofit accelerator, another program designed and delivered by Windfall was recognized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities as an example of leading-edge climate practice.

Windfall is a Natural Resources Canada Service Organization and has provided EnerGuide for Houses assessments since 2001. Windfall REA’s are passionate about reducing home energy use, maximizing the benefits of home retrofit projects, reducing residential carbon emissions, and maintaining the durability, health, and safety of our homes.

What services do you offer?

EnerGuide Home Energy Evaluations, a whole-home assessment based on the rigorous EnerGuide standards developed by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) benchmarking current home energy performance and providing a retrofit plan to hit homeowner energy/performance goals. Includes information about current financing/grant programs available and enrolment into programs requiring an EnerGuide evaluation. Also available in a Basic service for incentive programs that do not require the Renovation Upgrade Report.

Heat Pump Sizing service, as part of a pilot program developed by Green Communities Canada, Windfall offers a Heat Pump Sizing service. Included in the service is a whole-home CSA F280 heating and cooling load calculation (used for sizing of heating and cooling equipment), an assessment of the home’s electrical panel capacity (to determine whether a panel upgrade is required), and testing of the home’s central duct system to determine the maximum possible air flow rate (to determine whether the existing duct system is a limiting factor when selecting new heating and cooling equipment). The resulting report can be provided to HVAC contractors to inform their choice of equipment for your home with the goal of right sizing the new equipment and ensuring that it will meet your efficiency and comfort goals.

Retrofit coaching, a series of open ended over the phone or video conference consultations with our experienced Registered Energy Advisors to support you through the complexities of your home energy and comfort renovations. We offer independent and expert advice and guidance for your planned retrofit measures and are knowledgeable about the available grant/financing programs. This is a great complimentary service to your EnerGuide home energy evaluation, offering support for your retrofit between the pre- and post-retrofit evaluations.

Blower door testing, a standalone blower service for those who want/need to have a blower door test done on their home to quantify the amount of air leakage through the building envelope. Very helpful if participating in a grant program and needing to achieve a specific air tightness target. Also available with a guided tour to identify sources of air leakage and guidance on addressing the leaks.

Thermal imaging, a guided tour of your home with a thermal imaging camera with a blower door running and includes a report containing pictures of areas of concern and common areas of heat loss. Offered fall through spring and requires a temperatures difference of 10C between the inside of the house and the outside.

Tell us about your team

The Windfall Home Energy team is comprised of our Registered Energy Advisors who are always happy to discuss the nuances of home energy and comfort improvements and carbon emission reduction and our diligent and friendly office staff who excel at supporting homeowners through their retrofit journeys and facilitate access to our various services. We pride ourselves for working for a non-profit which gives us the freedom to offer sound unbiased advice and information with the goal of helping our clients make the best decisions for their homes.

What are your organization’s strengths and focus areas?

As the only non-profit EnerGuide service provider in the GTA, we achieved our exceptional rating based on the quality of our EnerGuide evaluations in which we strive to understand your needs, model your home as accurately as possible, and then offer the most appropriate retrofit recommendations driven by our staff’s building science knowledge and understanding of the House-As-A-System approach. Our entire staff are dedicated to supporting homeowners through their retrofit journeys as we know how complex the projects can get and our experience as a Service Organization of almost 25 years helps ensure a positive outcome with the various available grant and financing opportunities.

When you select Windfall for our broad spectrum of home retrofit services you can rest assured that we will provide our service with a focus on reducing energy use in your home, improving health and comfort, and ensuring your satisfaction with your retrofits knowing that your goals will be achieved. Our recommendations and guidance will take into consideration improving the resiliency and durability of your home so that it may last for decades to come. Most importantly our entire team is focused on reducing the carbon impact of our homes and we feel that every home has a pathway to significant carbon reduction or full electrification.

How do you interact with homeowners?

Many of our services are based around an in-person visit by one of our energy advisors so you’ll have the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation about your concerns and goals during their visit. For services that don’t require a home visit and for further support we offer them by phone, email, and video conference and we can be flexible to meet homeowner’s schedules and preferred methods of communication.

Is your company’s staff certified by NRCan to perform EnerGuide audits?

Yes, Windfall and its energy advisors are certified to provide EnerGuide evaluation for both single family and MURB buildings.

Has your company’s staff completed the HRAI Residential Heat Loss and Heat Gain Calculations course for sizing heat pumps?

All our Energy Advisors are fully certified with Natural Resources Canada to offer EnerGuide home energy evaluations for single family homes. We encourage and support our Energy Advisors to pursue continuing education opportunities to maintain a current body of knowledge and develop their professional capabilities. Currently we can also support homeowners with an EnerGuide MURB evaluations and we have completed CHBA’s NetZero training.

Do you have any commercial/financial relationship with contractors or equipment suppliers?

No.