The purpose of the Rénoclimat Program is to help improve your home’s energy performance. There are several things that can be done to achieve this – for example, insulating your crawl space, insulating your basement walls, changing your heating device, and so on.

Concerning window replacements

Some types of work – for example, window replacements – do not qualify for financial assistance under the Rénoclimat program. This is to encourage other types of renovation work that will have a more significant impact on your home’s energy performance.

However, the ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes Program pays $40 per “rough opening” (the grant is based on the number of rough openings, not on the number of doors, windows or skylights replaced). Replacement windows, doors and skylights, if properly installed, will help make your home air-tight.

How to apply for assistance

If you obtain assistance from the Rénoclimat Program, you also qualify for financial assistance from the federal ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes Program, provided the work is completed between June 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. Each program has its own financial assistance grid, and assistance varies according to the type of work done. If the work you do is listed in both grids, you will receive both amounts of assistance. 

Wait times

There has been a large number of applications due to the return of the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes Program and the short period within which work must be done. As a result, it may take longer than usual to obtain an appointment in some regions. Please be assured that all possible steps are being taken to minimize the delays.

Call Centre contact Information for appointments

1-866-266-0008

Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Econologis has been available since 1999, and has allowed more than 87,700 Québec families to receive free visits from energy efficiency advisors. This year, an estimated 14,400 households are expected to use the program.

Under the program, eligible families are visited by an advisor and a technician, and are given practical advice on heating, hot water, household appliances and lighting. In addition, they are able to obtain assistance with issues such as window caulking, door sills and weatherstripping, insulation for electrical outlets located on outside walls, water-saving shower heads, water heater temperature adjustments, faucet aerators and compact fluorescent light bulbs. The technician identifies the household’s priority needs during the visit.

Once these basic tasks have been completed, some households, on certain conditions, may also qualify for free installation of electronic thermostats, which help to improve comfort levels in the home during the winter months.

Éconologis is an excellent choice, since it offers a number of benefits including improved comfort and fewer unpleasant draughts.

To deliver the program, the MRNF works with eleven non-profit and community organizations situated in the regions. The organizations provide a presence in the field to help satisfy the demand for the program.

For further details about the program, and to obtain contact information for the delivery organization in your region, please call 1-866-266-0008 or visit the Éconologis website, which also offers practical tips to help you make the most of your energy consumption and improve the level of comfort in your home.

The mailing address and telephone number to reach us will remain the same:

5700 - 4^th Avenue West, G
Québec QC
G1H 6R1

Tel: 418 627-6379
Toll free number: 1 877 727-6655
Fax: 418 643-5828

Call center number: 1 866 266-0008

E-mail addresses have been changed:

• E-Mail address aee@aee.gouv.qc.ca is replaced by efficaciteenergetique@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca


• Internet address www.aee.gouv.qc.ca is replaced with www.efficaciteenergetique.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca;


• Employees’ E-mail addresses have been slightly modified in the following manner: given name.family name@aee.gouv.qc.ca will now be: given name.family name@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca

For practical purposes, previous electronic addresses will remain active for several months.  

In its ongoing pursuit of customer satisfaction, the Ministère will ensure a successful transition. 

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

I know that, like me, you firmly believe in the conservation of natural resources from a perspective of sustainable development, of which energy efficiency is vital part. The increasingly clear emergence of a culture of energy efficiency in Québec owes much to your support of the AEE’s activities that led to the birth of this societal project.

The AEE has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, supported by an increase in its budget from $46.7 million in 2008 to $103 million in 2011. This growth has enabled us to give $167 million back to Québec society over the past three years, mainly as financial assistance granted under our various programs.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that Mario Gosselin, Assistant Deputy Minister for Energy, will be managing the programs at the new Bureau de l’efficacité et de l’innovation énergétiques. I am convinced that the new departmental policies will continue to ensure that the objectives of our respective organizations, which we have pursued in a stimulating and valuable synergy, will be attained.

I wish you all great success in the future.

Luce Asselin

The project involves both the production of biomass and the establishment of a technology showcase. The Bioénergie Mégantic cooperative will first plant approximately one hundred hectares of fallow land with reedy canary grass. Trials in recent years with three different species of perennial grasses have shown that reedy canary grass gives the best yields in the Mégantic region.

The project also involves the installation of an agricultural by-product pellet boiler at the Sacré-Cœur school complex in Lac-Mégantic. Bioénergie Mégantic will own the boiler and will be in charge of operating it.

The technology showcase is doubly important. First, monitoring its operation will provide potential users with information on the technology and economics of this type of boiler system. Second, the Sacré-Coeur boiler facility will provide an opportunity to measure and quantify the emissions resulting from the combustion of pellets made from a non-woody agri-fibre.

For the project, agricultural biomass will replace light fuel oil, resulting in a potential 4,480 GJ reduction in the use of fossil fuel annually, or the equivalent of taking 90 cars off the road every year. The potential cumulative reduction in the use of fossil fuels arising from the introduction of this technology in Québec is 750,000 GJ a year by 2015, or the equivalent of taking over 15,000 cars off the road every year.

This financial assistance was granted under the Energy Innovation Assistance Program (PAIE), which is intended to support the development of new energy efficient and emerging energy technologies.

To apply for assistance under the PAIE Program, please consult the PAIE section.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

Aliksir has developed an innovative process that enables it to recover the entire 500 tons of biomass it produces each year through its essential oil extraction operations. According to Lucie Mainguy, the owner and president of the company, the project was born from a strong desire to reduce the ecological footprint of Aliksir’s activities while, at the same time, making maximum use of muka, its main residual material. The company received $224,000 in financial assistance from the AEE under its Support for the Manufacturing Sector Program.

The project involved eliminating the need for light fuel oil by installing a muka-burning boiler. The energy content of muka, a solid distillation by-product, will make it possible to produce the steam needed to distill the essential oils and heat the buildings.

This new facility should generate an annual energy saving of 2,328 GJ, which corresponds to 164 tons of CO₂, or the equivalent of taking 48 standard cars off the road every year.

The family farm has specialized in the production of essential oils since 1988. While initially focussed on conifers, Aliksir has gradually diversified its raw material base to include a wide variety of wild bushes and plants as well as organically grown plants.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

The directors of Laiterie Charlevoix in Baie-Saint-Paul have inaugurated a new facility for processing lactoserum and wastewater from its cheesemaking operations. The Agence de l’efficacité énergétique granted nearly $500,000 to the company under the Support for the Manufacturing Sector Program for this project. AEE also granted $129,000 under the Energy Innovation Assistance Program to consultant Valbio Canada, which was in charge of installing the technology required to optimize the preconditioning system.

The new facility will make it possible to reclaim lactoserum (whey) and wash water. These components are rich in organic material and will undergo an anaerobic digestion process (methanization) to produce biogas. In addition, an innovative conditioning system will be installed upstream from the methanization system to process suspended and aerobic sludges in order to increase the amount of renewable energy produced. The biogas will be used as a source of energy for various production processes and to heat buildings. It is anticipated that some 67,600 m3 a year of biogas will produced.

Laiterie Charlevoix, which was founded in 1948, is a family business that specializes in manufacturing cheeses and selling and distributing dairy and other local Charlevoix products. It manufactures, among others, the Cheddar Charlevoix, Fleurmier de Charlevoix, Hercule de Charlevoix, and 1608 cheeses.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

Lexicon

Biomethanization: A biological process used to produce methane from organic waste. During the process, a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases is produced. The mixture is called biogas.

Suspended sludge: Sludge essentially composed of fats and oils from cheesemaking waste.

Aerobic sludge: Sludge from the aerobic clarifier (treated in the presence of oxygen).

To apply for assistance under the PAIE Program, please consult the PAIE section.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

Lexicon

Concentrating solar collector: Solar collector that concentrates the sun’s energy on a small surface and is used for high-temperature applications like heating buildings and water and producing industrial heat to generate steam to produce electricity.

Heat-transfer fluid: A liquid used to transport heat from one point to another.

Explore a city in 3D and view short videoclips to discover a host of helpful ecodriving tips and techniques that will help you save an average of 10% on your fuel bill. Also discover the positive Québec-wide impact that ecodriving could have: million of litres of gasoline could be saved each and every year!
This site is intended for drivers of light duty vehicles who would like to adopt new driving techniques to reduce their environmental footprint as much as possible.

The transportation sector alone accounts for over 70% of oil products consumed in Québec. In its 2006-2015 Energy Strategy, Québec set the goal of reducing fuel consumption by 2 million tons of oil equivalent (TOE), or the equivalent of the annual fuel consumption of 1.7 million light duty vehicles. Ecodriving can help us reach this goal.

Explore the world of ecodriving!

The AEE’s mission is to promote energy efficiency and the development of new energy technologies for all types of energy in every sector of activity with a focus on sustainable development, for the greater good of all regions of Québec.

Before renovating, make an appointment with an AEE energy advisor by calling 1-866-266-0008. During the first visit, the advisor will evaluate the energy performance of your residence and will give you a report listing possible energy-saving renovations. Once your renovation work has been completed, the advisor will visit you again and will re-evaluate the energy performance of your residence. You may then be eligible for financial assistance.

Consult our website for more information on the Rénoclimat Program, and make an appointment with one of our advisors!

• L’énergie dans la production agricole et le secteur des pêches au Québec (French only)
• Analyse de la rentabilité de la réalisation d'audits énergétiques dans le secteur agricole (French only)
• Plan de performance énergétique des exploitations agricoles 2009-2013 de la France: Le Québec dispose-t-il de mesures similaires? (French only)

AEE invites you to consult these documents for an overview of the role and importance of energy in the various agricultural sub-sectors. They also provide results of the return-on-investment analyses of energy audits in the agricultural sector as well as the various measures used by Québec farms based on the main priorities of the French energy efficiency plan.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

A total of seventy solar hot water heaters were installed, mainly in the Capitale-Nationale, Montérégie, Montréal, Mauricie, Estrie, and Outaouais regions. The largest project involved the installation of 12 solar hot water heaters in two buildings owned by a community social intervention service for native people living off reservation.

During the period of the pilot project, the section of the AEE website devoted to solar hot water heaters and the pilot project was visited an average of 2700 times a month, a clear demonstration of the emerging public interest in solar technologies.

The results of the pilot project are being analyzed to determine the next steps. The energy savings after one year of measurements from some twenty of the systems will be made available in fall 2011. One conclusion is already very clear: the pilot project improved the understanding of this emerging energy source and the expertise required to install the equipment.

Québec is third in terms of solar hot water heaters installed, behind British Columbia, which has installed 580, and Ontario, which has installed 419.

The $974,746 in financial assistance was granted under the Green technologies demonstration program aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Technoclimat), which was established under Measure 20 of the 2006-2012 Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP).

To apply for financial assistance for a project under the Green technologies demonstration program aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, please consult the program section.

Lexicon

Plasma-forming gas: Plasma generator.

Plasma: In physics, plasma described a material composed of charged particles (ions and electrons).

Halocarbons: Halocarbons are synthetic halogen compounds, that is, they are not produced in nature (chlorine, bromine, iodine, fluorine). Halocarbons include all ozone-depleting substances.

The Agence de l’efficacité énergétique recognizes that ecodriving is one of the easiest ways to reduce fuel consumption by vehicles and, as a result, greenhouse gas emissions. Ecodriving techniques can improve average energy efficiency by up to 10% on average.

Organizations interested in obtaining Ecomobile certification are invited to learn about prerequisite requirements.

For more information, call us at 1-877-727-6655 or visit our website at http://www.aee.gouv.qc.ca/en/business-clientele/transport/ecoconduite-accreditation-ecomobile/.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

These programs have given companies in the residential, industrial, and business sectors the means to implement concrete energy efficiency measures and install energy efficient technologies.

To highlight the commitment of these companies, AEE has developed a virtual showcase listing all the projects that received financial assistance under its programs.

You can search by sector of activity or administrative region. Project titles, brief descriptions of the projects, financial assistance granted by AEE, the total cost of each project, descriptions of the companies, and decreases in greenhouse gas emissions and energy savings resulting from the projects are all listed.

This information is updated on a regular basis as the various stages of the projects are implemented, so visit us often.

• Consult the list of fund projects

You’d like your company and facilities to benefit from our programs? Simply consult the Programs and financial assistance section for descriptions of all the programs offered by the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique.

The Biofour is one of the first technologies to combine a boiler and a post-combustion chamber with a power output varying from 10 to 300 hp. Various sources of biomass will be tested for their energy-producing performance, including high energy-density plants (switchgrass and miscanthus), agricultural residues, forest residues, poultry manure, and animal carcasses.

The boiler can produce energy for heating, incinerating refuse of all sorts, and eliminating noxious gases in the post-combustion chamber, which reaches over 1,000°C.

This demonstration project should lead to an alternative to heating systems using fossil fuels. It will also be an opportunity to evaluate the biomass flexibility of the oven, the management of ashes, the energy density of various types of biomass, the energy output of the oven, and the performance of a new automatic system for feeding the grinder.

The anticipated annual decrease in the use of fossil fuels by this system is estimated at 65 petroleum equivalent tons (PET) or 2,721 GJ.  By 2015, the potential annual decrease in the use of fossil fuels resulting from the project and similar facilities elsewhere (over 50 facilities by 2015) is estimated at 375,000 GJ, or the equivalent of taking 7,500 cars off the road.
 
The financial assistance from the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique was granted under the Energy Innovation Assistance Program (PAIE), which is intended to support the development of new energy efficient and emerging energy technologies.

To apply for assistance under the PAIE Program, please consult the PAIE section.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

The Agence de l’efficacité énergétique has granted $143,281 in financial assistance to Rackam Design for the demonstration of Icarus Heat, a solar trough system, at Laiterie Chagnon in Waterloo.

Rackam Design is a young company specialized in the design and implementation of innovative solar technology and energy efficiency projects. The financial assistance from AEE will allow it to install a 400-m² system that will provide 20% more heat than conventional collectors at a lower cost.

The technology involves several rows of trough collectors coated with reflective foil. The sunlight is concentrated on the focal point of the parabolic mirror (Dewar tube). A heat transfer fluid in the tube stores the thermal energy, which is then used for pasteurization, heating, and washing processes.

Once installed, the Icarus Heat system will allow Laiterie Chagnon to reduce its consumption of fuel oil by nearly 45 tons of oil equivalent (TOE) a year. In addition, AEE anticipates that the commercialization and installation of the Icarus Heat system could result an annual 677 TOE decrease by 2015, or the equivalent of removing 420 gas-powered vehicles from the road.

The financial assistance from the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique was granted under the Energy Innovation Assistance Program (PAIE), which is intended to support the development of new energy efficient and emerging energy technologies.

To apply for assistance under the PAIE Program, please consult the PAIE section.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

Lexicon

Parabolic trough: Parabolic solar thermal energy collector that reflects sunlight onto a heat transfer tube containing a heat transfer fluid.

Heat transfer tube: The heat transfer tube contains a heat transfer fluid that transfers heat between two or more sources. In this case, the fluid is heated by concentrated sunlight, and the thermal energy is stored to provide heat for various processes at Laiterie Chagnon.

Thermal energy: Solar heat energy is derived from the transformation of sunlight into thermal energy. Thermal energy is the kinetic energy of an object arising from the disordered or random motion of the object’s molecules and atoms.

The system designed by Valbio Canada makes it possible to process suspended and aerobic sludges from dairy operations that are normally sent to a landfill site. These sludges will now be used to produce biomethane, a source of energy and, as a consequence, reduce the cost of disposing of them. To attain this ambitious goal, the company must validate a number of criteria, including the optimal processing temperature, the types of enzymes needed, and the other steps required to improve the performance of the biomethanization process, the ultimate goal of this technological demonstration project.

If it can successfully replace natural gas, propane, and light fuel oil, this technology will make it possible to reduce GHG emissions considerably by 2015. The anticipated decrease in GHG emissions would be the equivalent of removing 135 vehicles from the road.
 
Valbio Canada specializes in the production of bioenergy from organic waste of all sorts: agricultural residues, organic municipal waste, etc. Methanization is at the heart of the systems produced by Valbio. They make it possible to produce methane-rich biogas, a renewable, environmentally friendly energy source.

The financial assistance from the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique was granted under the Energy Innovation Assistance Program (PAIE), which is intended to support the development of new energy efficient and emerging energy technologies.

To apply for assistance under the PAIE Program, please consult the PAIE section.

To find out more about AEE programs, consult the Programs and financial assistance section.

Lexicon

Biomethanization: A biological process used to produce methane from organic waste. During the process, a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases is produced. The mixture is called biogas.

Suspended sludge: Sludge essentially composed of fats and oils from cheesemaking waste.

Aerobic sludge: Sludge from the aerobic clarifier (treated in the presence of oxygen).

• Technoclimat^TM now includes a second component aimed at evaluating technologies, in a purely Québec context, that have successfully passed the development stage. The eligible customer base for this component has been broadened to “any legally constituted organization, company, or association that is established in Québec and that wishes to use or commercialize a proven greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction technology that has a weak market presence or no market presence in Québec.” Potential financial assistance can total 50% of eligible expenses or a maximum of $1 million per project.
• For the main component, potential financial assistance has been increased to 50% of eligible expenses, regardless of the size of the project. The maximum amount of assistance remains at $3 million per project.
• Costs incurred by an applicant may now be eligible as of the date of receipt of the application by AEE. The project must be approved and the expenses incurred must be recognized as eligible expenses by AEE under an agreement with the applicant.

The Application for financial assistance form and is available in the Publications and forms section. The new Detailed guide for applicants is also available.

The Technoclimat^TM Program was established under Measure 20 of the 2006-2012 Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) with the goal of promoting the emergence of deployment of technologies with good potential for reducing GHG emissions in Québec.

If you have any questions, please call an AEE technology innovation program manager at 1-877-727-6655 (de Québec City area: 418-627-6379) or by email at aee@aee.gouv.qc.ca.