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Summary

A municipally-owned social housing provider transforms a failing 50 year-old apartment tower with 146 units of affordable housing into a landmark building with state-of-the-art performance in energy, health, comfort and accessibility.

Context

The City of Hamilton’s waitlist for community housing includes more than 6,000 households (10,000 people). CityHousing Hamilton (CHH) manages nearly 7,000 units in a total of 1,265 properties, housing approximately 13,000 residents. The 18-storey Ken Soble Tower, built in 1967, is the oldest high-rise building in CHH’s portfolio and a landmark on Hamilton’s West Harbour waterfront. Deferred maintenance, however, has resulted in disrepair and contributes to capital deficit.

Major considerations for CHH include:

• Renewal of existing affordable housing units;
• Ensuring quality living standards for tenants; and
• Astute management of capital and assets, particularly over the long term
   

Approach

Ken Soble Tower is one of two major CHH properties located in a Hamilton neighbourhood under redevelopment. CHH commissioned Deloitte to analyze the properties and to consider various options, such as renovation, or sale and replacement. After reviewing the Deloitte study and potential funding programs, CHH worked with ERA Architects to design a plan to renovate Ken Soble Tower to best-in-class standards for accessibility, energy efficiency and quality of life.

CHH chose to retrofit the Tower to meet EnerPHit Certification, a branch of the Passive House (Passivhaus) performance-based standard designed specifically for building retrofits. The project will provide residents with improved comfort, health and greater control over their indoor environments, and dramatically reduce the building’s environmental impacts.

In addition, the project will help to meet projected long-term growth in demand for affordable seniors’ housing by incorporating accessibility and aging-in-place principles. By establishing new community spaces and proposed partnerships with social service agencies, the project aims to support tenants, along with the surrounding neighbourhood.

The project also showcases an approach to retrofitting the thousands of apartment towers across Canada and around the world facing similar problems.

The project includes a significant research component. CHH, in partnership with CMHC, is documenting the energy and non-energy benefits of the project’s holistic approach. Other research partners include: The Tower Renewal Partnership; The Atmospheric Fund; University of Toronto; Transsolar; and Pembina Institute.

"Old buildings can be great places to showcase the value of new ideas."
– Sean Botham, CityHousing Hamilton Corporation

Health, Energy and Environmental Measures

Along with new plumbing and electrical systems, the project will install heat-recovery systems and direct ducting of fresh air into all units. Other retrofit tasks include:

• Apply air barrier to exterior brick topped by mineral wool
• Remove balconies to eliminate thermal bridging and reduce maintenance
• Seal fire-separation breaks found throughout all units

The project aims to decrease overall energy intensity by at least 70%, significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%. Once construction is complete, the total energy required to heat or cool each unit will be equal to the energy required to run 3 incandescent light bulbs (100W). The project will qualify as one of only 10 high-rise retrofits registered with International PH Certification in the world – and the first in North America – and ties in strongly with Hamilton’s goals of design excellence, and financial and environmental sustainability.

Challenges

Building condition worse than anticipate

Despite the analysis conducted during the feasibility stage and subsequent investigations, the start of construction revealed additional areas of building deterioration. These included extensive mould growth, breaks in the fire separation between units and inadequate plumbing. Addressing these previously concealed problems added to the scope of work and to project costs.

Rising construction costs

Between design completion and start of construction, construction costs in the Hamilton region escalated at approximately one percent per month, an unprecedented rate. The addition of a sprinkler system, along with air conditioning (to adapt to climate change, and improve the health and comfort of residents), also increased costs, although to a much lesser extent. The project is now expected to cost significantly more than the initial estimate of $16 million. To cover the cost increases, CHH secured an additional grant and loans from funders.

Expected Results

The project will provide residents with improved comfort and control of their indoor environments, and the ability to withstand future extreme climate events. It also aims to support Canada’s climate change targets and to demonstrate the long-term financial advantages of reducing operational and maintenance costs.

Key Statistics: Before and After Construction

Lessons Learned

Balance assessment considerations and funding program deadlines.
Completing more thorough assessment of the building’s condition might have provided a more accurate understanding of project scope, but the time needed would have caused the project to miss the deadlines of funding programs. As a result, the project would not have proceeded.

Support for sustainability can inspire transformational change.
While it can be expensive to bring a building back online, the additional costs of incorporating features that improve energy performance and promote sustainability are relatively small, and can generate long-term savings on utilities and operations. Grants that cover the additional cost of high-performance enable transformative jumps rather than incremental change.

Contact

Sean Botham
Senior Development Project Manager
CityHousing Hamilton
(905) 546-2424 ext. 7620
sean.botham@hamilton.ca

Summary

Long-term savings in utility costs fund the major energy-efficiency retrofit of seven community-housing buildings, improving indoor air quality and comfort for 1,500 residents.

Context

Most of Toronto’s 2,200 community-housing buildings, built in the 1950s and 1960s, are in dire need of renovations.

To minimize energy consumption and environmental impacts, and to improve resident comfort and indoor-air quality, Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCH) partnered with The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), a regional climate agency that invests in low-carbon solutions. During a multi-year project, the partners retrofitted seven social housing buildings, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent and utility costs by 20 per cent. The project is part of the City of Toronto’s larger Tower Renewal strategy to revitalize aging postwar apartment buildings.

Approach

TAF and TCH signed an Energy Savings Performance Agreement™ to finance and implement comprehensive energy retrofits in seven TCH buildings. Verifiable long-term savings in utility costs finance the retrofits. TAF developed and posted a request for proposals that included design, implementation and verification of results. Montréal based Ecosystem Energy won the contract.

Design charrettes involved tenants, project partners, stakeholders and industry experts from the Tower Renewal Partnership, University of Toronto and National Research Council Canada. Significant research, including tenant surveys and on-site testing, informed the project. Tests revealed that inadequate ventilation systems produced airflows more than 40% below current building-code requirements. Uncomfortably warm indoor temperatures due to oversized and poorly controlled boilers caused tenants to leave windows open during winter, wasting energy.

The team installed energy-efficient equipment and monitoring technology, including smart thermostats and properly sized boilers. The retrofit doubled the volume of fresh air in the buildings, providing an immediate and noticeable improvement for residents. The replacement of leaky toilets also generated significant additional savings, while lighting retrofits improved public safety and wayfinding.

A resident-engagement program informed tenants about the project’s progress and taught them to properly operate thermostats. TCH plans further tenant engagement to showcase and celebrate energy-saving behaviour.

Through a partnership with Building Up, a non-profit organization that trains people facing employment barriers, the project hired 12 community members on a short-term basis. The workers assisted with installation and trained residents in proper thermostat use.

By integrating design and implementation, this project cost-effectively reduced energy consumption and GHG emissions, while improving tenant comfort and air quality."
– Bryan Purcell, The Atmospheric Fund

Transcript

Environmental Measures

High-efficiency boilers, motors and lighting

• Heat-recovery ventilation
• Low-flow faucets and toilets
• In-suite air-quality monitors and thermostats
• Gas-absorption heat pumps (for one building’s hot-water system)

Results

The project reduces utility costs by more than $500,000 per year and GHG emissions by the equivalent of 963 tonnes of CO2, and is expected to yield a 364% return on investment during the 10-year partnership. Supply of fresh air has increased by 75–100%.

Energy Savings by Building

Revised baselines and projections were adjusted for weather normalization of base year and operational changes (e.g. changes to thermostat settings, and in numbers of installed lighting and plumping fixtures, etc.).

Source: 2018 Environmental Results Report submitted to FCM pursuant to funding agreement

Lessons Learned

Finance retrofits by leveraging savings in long-term utility costs.
The 10-year agreement gave all three parties an ongoing stake in the project’s success. All three parties are motivated to solve any problems that arise.

Integrate project design and implementation.
A more typical approach to project design and implementation involves dozens of requests for proposals and contracts with numerous parties. This complicates contract management and accountability. Although integration requires additional time and effort during design and planning, it produces superior results.

Collect and analyze data before and after retrofit.
Preliminary research informed multiple aspects of the project. The fact that overheating resulted in the wastage of 20% of heat energy helped to make the case for installing in-suite heating controls, for instance. And the finding that leaky toilets accounted for 20% of total water consumption informed the decision to install ultra-low flow, leak-resistant toilets and fixtures. Continuous measurement and verification contribute to ongoing efficiency and potential improvements.

Engage with tenants before, during and after implementation.
Tenants represent an invaluable source of intelligence. Consulting with them during the design and planning stages helps identify what needs to be done and builds the goodwill needed to ensure the project’s successful implementation and ongoing operation.

Take advantage of economies of scale.
Aggregating multiple measures in seven buildings enabled the project to realize economies of scale for both professional services (design, commissioning, etc.) and construction (e.g. reduced contractor-mobilization costs). While some buildings were unlikely to generate the post-retrofit savings needed to justify the investment, bundling them together achieved the overall targeted return on investment.

Prioritize resident comfort and health.
Research conducted prior to the project revealed that rather than complain about high indoor temperatures, many residents simply open their windows, exacerbating temperature-control issues. Installing in-suite heating controls helps to maximize both comfort and energy savings.

Contact

Bryan Purcell
Vice President of Policy and Programs
The Atmospheric Fund
416-393-6358
bpurcell@taf.ca

Summary

Beaver Barracks is a two-phase construction project that provides 254 units of affordable housing and incorporates innovative sustainability features and technologies, such as geothermal heating and cooling, and a thermal-break system for balconies.

Context

To help ease its chronic shortage of affordable housing, the City of Ottawa called for tenders to develop Beaver Barracks, the vacant downtown site of a former military facility. Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC) bid successfully and constructed a $65 million development with units ranging from bachelor suites to three-bedroom townhouses available at market-rate and subsidized rents. The project also meets City criteria to include a community garden and ambulance station.

Established in 1974, CCOC is a community-owned tenant and member-directed private non-profit organization. With more than 1,550 units in 50 properties across downtown Ottawa, CCOC is a recognized leader in affordable housing. To fund the project, CCOC raised $12 million in municipal grants and incentives, and $11 million in federal grants, and secured mortgages of $31 million from a bank and $9 million from the province.

Approach

After winning the bid for the project and buying the land from the City for $1, CCOC hosted a two-day design charrette with community organizations, neighbours, residents, designers, engineers and architects. The charrette helped to establish design priorities, such as energy efficiency, reduced greenhouse-gas emissions and inclusion of community spaces. The participation of technical experts enabled careful consideration of proposed features. The idea of installing sunshades to reduce air-conditioning costs, for instance, was rejected when simulation models revealed that investing in other features would have greater impact on performance.

The two-phase project involved five buildings, including two mid-rise towers and three wood-frame buildings. Feedback from the tenants of the Phase I building inspired improvements to the second phase, particularly regarding finishes and barrier-free design.

The additional costs associated with incorporating energy-efficiency and sustainability features and technologies led CCOC to make several difficult decisions. CCOC planned to certify the project LEED Gold, although it chose not to pay the additional costs of certification, for instance. And to offset the costs (and risk) of owning and operating the geothermal plant, CCOC negotiated a 25-year agreement with Corix Utilities. Each tenant pays for the electricity consumed by the heat pump installed in each unit, as well as a fee to offset the cost of financing and servicing the geothermal system.

The success of the Beaver Barracks project demonstrates that the affordable housing sector can innovate in energy efficiency."
– Ray Sullivan, Executive Director, Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation

Environmental Measures

• Canada’s largest (at the time) residential geothermal heating, cooling and hot-water system circulates water through underground loops and into pumps located in each unit
• First use in Canada of Isokorb® thermal-break technology – creates a thermal barrier between balconies and the rest of the concrete structure to reduce temperature variations, increasing the comfort of residents and decreasing long-term maintenance costs
• Green roof on project’s largest building provides extra insulation and storm-water management.
• High-performance windows improve energy efficiency and minimize noise from the adjacent highway
• Signage informs tenants about how to conserve energy and water
• Energy-recovery ventilator efficiently provides constant fresh air and improves indoor-air quality
• Project features low-flow plumbing fixtures and uses reclaimed wood
• Contaminated soil safely removed and treated prior to construction
   

Results

A Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) conducted by Dunsky Energy Consulting and funded by CMHC reviewed the project approximately three years after completion of construction. The POE covered a 15-month period and included a detailed analysis of energy systems during 12 consecutive months. A key metric was Energy Use Intensity (EUI): energy consumption per square metre of conditioned floor space. The EUI for Beaver Barracks was 50–65% lower than relevant Canadian and American database averages for similar facilities.

This advantage, however, did not lower total cost of energy for residents because of the fixed monthly geothermal fees. In fact, overall energy costs are approximately 20% higher than for an average Ottawa multi-unit residential building (MURB).

Energy Use Intensity (EUI)

EUI, measured as equivalent kilowatt hours per square metre (ekWh/ m2), for Beaver Barracks was 50%-65% lower than relevant Canadian and US database averages for similar facilities.

Source: POE conducted by Dunsky Energy Consulting for CMHC from January 1, 2015 to March 1, 2016

Imbalanced heating and cooling loads are another cause for concern. Geothermal systems must balance heating and cooling loads for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Beaver Barracks’ system, however, features a significantly higher cooling load. Engineering studies conducted after the POE identified several contributing factors, including summer temperatures that exceeded the baseline used to design the system.

In terms of water consumption, Beaver Barracks performed well. On a per-unit basis, water consumption was approximately half of the CMHC benchmark; on a per-occupant basis, it was 65% of the CMHC benchmark. Tenant usage accounts for the vast majority of water consumption. Overall results for inside-air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics and building envelope met the targeted standards.

Lessons Learned

Consultative design process improves results.
The two-day charrette identified several features that were incorporated into the project, including a storm-water irrigation system for an onsite community garden. In addition, the goodwill among residents and future tenants fostered by the charrette benefitted subsequent CCOC projects.

Third-party ownership of geothermal system can increase costs.
While energy performance and GHG emissions are both better than for comparable Ottawa MURBs, tenants pay higher utility costs due to fixed geothermal fees. CCOC and Corix share the risks associated with the geothermal system.

Involving multiple designers diminishes system performance.
Corix engineers designed the underground array and central energy plant, while CCOC contracted other engineers to design the distribution system, which includes heat exchangers and heat pumps. This division of duties may contribute to the system’s imbalanced heating and cooling loads, and the associated inefficiencies. Using a single team of engineers to design the entire system – from underground pipes to apartment heat pumps – might have produced better results.

Contact

Raymond Sullivan
Executive Director
Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation
613-234-4065 ext. 233

The Accelerate Kootenays project in the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, East Kootenay and Kootenay Boundary, BC, is the 2020 winner of the Visionary Award from FCM’s Sustainable Communities Awards.

When regional governments in the Kootenays, BC, wanted to address the gap in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the area, they spearheaded a project to build a regional clean transportation network. Thanks to collaboration between local governments, communities and many partners, the project established a network throughout the region that encourages EV use and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Commitment to collaboration drove project success

Since transportation accounts for 61% of GHG emissions in the Kootenays, enabling more electric vehicle use can have a significant environmental impact. Communities in the region are small, have low population density, and local governments have limited capacity and capital funding for large-scale infrastructure projects. To succeed in accelerating adoption of EVs, remove barriers to travelling within the region and encouraging EV tourism, it was necessary for local and regional governments to collaborate, work with 10 funding and implementation partners, and design one coordinated regional EV charging network.

Regional network considered local co-benefits

To build the network of 13 DC Fast Charging stations and over 40 Level 2 stations, the project team leveraged a $90,000 commitment from the Regional Districts to secure over $1.9 million in funding. Each community hosting EV stations was engaged in the site selection process, with a focus on generating co-benefits to the community by selecting sites near amenities, tourist attractions or community facilities. A number of community engagement activities were used to build interest in the project, including a winter driving video, EV test drive opportunities and promotional events at outdoor summer markets.

In an innovative arrangement, Level 2 equipment is owned and operated by the site hosts, representing the first time in BC that regional and local governments managed procurement independently of utility partners. This community-focused approach has become a model for similar jurisdictions across Canada.

Project reduced GHGs and sparked more green initiatives

During the pilot project alone, nearly 87,000 kilometres of EV travel were supported by the charging stations, which represents a reduction of 9,250 litres of gas and 21 tonnes of CO₂e, and the project is expected to achieve direct emissions reductions of over 25,000 tonnes of CO₂e by 2030. PetroCanada, Tesla and FortisBC have committed to installing more than 25 additional charging stations throughout the region and the project has inspired municipalities in the Kootenay Region to make further investments in clean energy. Several communities have installed solar arrays, and the City of Kimberley purchased an electric vehicle for municipal use.

Regional model created challenges for the project

One of the challenges the project faced was in developing a new model for regional and local municipalities to work with utilities to implement the project. It was the first time in BC that local governments designed and funded such a project, and new processes were required to make it work. They learned vital lessons about the importance of engaging provincial, regional and local government support early in the project, and the value of engaging local champions (the EV drivers) to help with outreach and public education, especially in rural areas where electric vehicles are a relatively new concept.