Lead applicant: Greater Victoria Housing Society
Lead municipality: City of Victoria
Sector: Energy (Sustainable Affordable Housing - SAH)
Project type: Feasibility study
Approved funding through the Green Municipal Fund: $125,000
The Greater Victoria Housing Society (GVHS) is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to providing affordable rental housing for low-to-moderate income seniors, families, working singles, and adults with disabilities who live independently.
This project will explore various options to retrofit the Sitkum Lodge, which consists of 75 1-bedroom units. This current building has limited insulation, absence of mechanical cooling system, and a poor ventilation system. The measures that will be evaluated are higher envelop insulation value, more performant windows and electric boilers, ventilation improvements, energy efficient lighting and addition of PV solar power generation. This project seeks to achieve a 50% reduction in energy use intensity and aspires to deliver a net zero carbon building at completion. In addition, the various retrofit priorities will improve tenant comfort and indoor air quality.
Innovative aspect(s):
- GVHS is considering using a panelized approach to the envelope retrofit to reduce disruption on tenants.
- GVHS is also evaluating the possibility of using air-to-water heat pumps, which will free up electrical capacity that can be used to address overheating as well as the lack of mechanical cooling in residents’ suites.
Replicability:
GVHS owns two similar concrete multi-family buildings in Victoria. Results from this study may inform the retrofit plans for the rest of the organization’s portfolio. Additionally, the organization plans to share the outcomes of the study with the other municipalities in the region through direct partnership and stakeholder engagement.
Affordability:
- Currently, all the units are rented at below the median market rate. Rents are based on tenants’ income and the Society subsidizes the lowest rents with units that can afford higher ones.
- The project will drive cost savings through the prefabricated panels, which will minimize on-site construction.
- As for the operations, the preliminary energy model estimates that the utility cost savings will be equal to $60,000/year.
(Project description from original funding application)