Real green estate

>> Zero-energy condos go up in Verdun
reach the youth vote

PATRICK LEJTENYI

It’s a given that more condos being built in Verdun is hardly a reason to get excited. But the triplex set to go up beginning this spring at the corner of LaSalle Boulevard and Rushbrooke is at the forefront of a slowly building movement in the development business—the zero-energy home, which produces as much electricity as it consumes.

Created by Abondance Montréal, a design team that includes some of the better-known names in green design experts including EcoCité Developments, Les Constructions Sodero, Studio MMA architects, Pageau Morel engineers and École Polytechnique’s prof Michel Bernier, the triplex relies on geo-

thermal heating and cooling and solar panels to produce electricity. Kitted out with the latest high-tech appliances, low-watt bulbs and finished with “healthy and ecological products,” the building was one of several to win a national competition created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Occupancy for two of the three two-bedroom, 828-square-foot condos is planned for the fall.

Tightening up

One of the principal ways the building lowers its energy consumption is simply by being better built. “The envelope is much tighter, so there’s less leakage,” says EcoCité’s Cheryl Gladu, 29. “The walls and the roof are very well insulated, as are the windows. We want to minimize the demand for energy, and another way of doing that is by using natural ventilation”—meaning that the building is designed to allow for the maximum natural flow of warm or cool air to circulate unaided.

But what really makes the building tick are the 60-plus photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and solar thermal vacuum tubes on the roof that, in combination with the geothermal pump, heat and cool the building. Cooling all homes and buildings will be especially important in a globally warmed future, says Gladu, and if that can be achieved without the energy required by an air conditioner, that can go some way towards cutting down the world’s energy needs.

“We based the model of our building on the year 2030, and have taken into account climate change,” she says. “If we just modelled the building using today’s numbers, I don’t know if it would be viable. We used some numbers provided by [Quebec climate change research consortium] Ouranos. Currently, numbers show that there are an average two weeks in a summer when an air conditioner is needed to maintain comfort. That’s not a big deal, it’s only four per cent of the year. But in the future, it’s thought that we’ll need four or more weeks of air conditioning, and that’s not tolerable. Clearly, people will need some kind of air conditioning.”

Helping maintain a comfortable temperature will be a wall of vines—a “green screen,” says Gladu—hanging down one side of the building, which cools the air and removes some of the humidity. As the cool air falls, it enters an air duct, bringing it into the dwelling. “You can use whatever grows most appropriately,” she says. “Vines help cool the city, and aesthetically they’re very pleasing.”

In the summer, as hot air rises, the building’s ducts will act like a chimney, directing the air out of the building through the roof.

CHANNELING AND BEATING THE SUN:
Solar panels (left) and the green screen

Big sustainable dreams

But as neat as the whole building sounds, it’s only a part of a larger project the team has in mind. They’re planning another green building next door, this one with 18 units and at least one ground-floor commercial space that shares common space with the triplex. A rooftop garden is also planned for the bigger building (the triplex would have a rooftop terrace, shaded by the PV panels and a pergola). The point, says Gladu, is to be both ecologically and socially responsible. “We want to show that living in the city can be quite sustainable, thank you very much.”

As anyone in real estate will tell you, it’s all about location. The group knew they had to find a place in the city that would make sense. “You can have the greenest building imaginable, and recycle as much as you like, but if you have to drive two hours to get there, it’s not all that healthy,” she says. The triplex is close to LaSalle station on the green line, and close to several bus routes. Gladu puts the monthly bill, including all mortgage and energy costs, at $1,219,

Once built, the group plans to open the bottom apartment to visitors for a year, where they will showcase all manner of sustainable, made-in-Quebec initiatives.