Today is Blog Action Day, organized so bloggers can focus on one issue, which today is the environment.

Today I want to focus on a uniquely Canadian residential energy efficiency program, the R-2000 home program. Twenty three years ago this month I was in the midst of constructing my first registered R-2000 energy efficient home.  Delivered by Energy, Mines and Resources Canada, the program was in its infancy.

Few home builders even bothered to take the training, even fewer would commit to actually building one and have it subjected to rigorous testing. The majority of home builders belittled the program which caused most consumers to opt for the status quo in energy efficient construction. Only a very small percentage of new homes were ever registered R-2000 homes.

Twenty three years later, homeowners of those standard efficiency homes will have to spend thousands to upgrade their energy efficiency or pay some very steep home energy bills. The owners of registered R-2000 homes continue to enjoy low energy bills to this day and beyond.

I have personal knowledge of this because I still live in my first R-2000 home.

What were you doing for the environment twenty three years ago?