Woodstove exchange program : pilot evaluation : final report

The Government of British Columbia launched a woodstove exchange program to instigate the replacement of old or uncertified woodstoves with high efficiency Canadian Standards Association B415 or United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions-certified, clean-burning appliances. The initiative ran as a three-year pilot program focusing on the Highway 16 corridor of the Skeena region between Terrace and Burns Lake in British Columbia. A similar program has also been operating in the Cariboo and other regions. The program included an evaluation component, whose objectives were to guide the development of a provincial strategy for woodstove exchange, while improving on the pilot, and to develop an appropriate evaluation template that could be successfully applied to future exchange programs in Canada and the United States. The primary research component of the evaluation consisted of three separate public opinion surveys, including a consumer awareness survey, a participant survey, and a non-participant survey. This report presented a detailed analysis of the results of all three surveys. Results that were discussed for the consumer awareness survey included perceptions of local air quality; ownership of wood-burning appliances; awareness of and participation in the woodstove exchange program; likelihood of future participation in the woodstove exchange program; burn-it smart workshops; and perceptions of by-laws applicable to woodstoves. Similar topics were discussed in the other two surveys. Recommendations were also offered. It was concluded that although local air quality was generally rated as good, a significant number of respondents had some concerns about air pollution and saw wood burning as a source of air pollution. tabs., figs., appendices