What if we made it net-zero? That’s what The Salvation Army, one of North America’s largest non-profit social service providers, asked just before they were about to sign off on the construction of Grace Village, a 175-unit housing complex in north Edmonton.

The complex includes a 32-bed recovery stabilization unit, 71 beds of traditional housing and 72 more beds for men and women who require supportive housing.

“We did a cost estimate in 2020 and the [original code-built] cost came out at $23 million,” said Michaela Jones, the project’s architect. “Then we wondered ‘what would it look like if we went to net-zero energy ready?’”

They redesigned the project, adding geothermal heating, a major upgrade to the insulation of the building envelope and a host of other sustainability initiatives.

Then something rather amazing happened: “The tender amounts came in within a percentage of our original estimate. It was in the midst of a pandemic where lumber prices were through the roof. It was very surprising.”

Energy Efficiency = Savings

“I’ve gone through the numbers and it’s approximately a $900,000 premium we paid on a $23 million construction budget,” said Jones.

While they did experience some site challenges, the project was so economical it will take only four years to recover the increased costs in energy savings.

The expected utility costs for the project were originally projected at $400,000 per year for electricity and natural gas, but with all the efficiency improvements the Salvation Army will save $240,000 a year adding up to an incredible $6 million dollars in savings over 25 years.

“By lowering our operational costs, we ensure the sustainability of programs and of the Salvation Army’s mission,” said Jones.

How Did They Do It?

Donny Kroening is the project manager with Synergy Projects, the contractor. He walked us through what they did to achieve such high levels of energy efficiency. Kroening says the walls have five inches of spray foam insulation on the inside and three inches of Roxul insulation on the outside along with a rain screen and a special water permeable air barrier.

The result: Very well-sealed walls with R44 insulation alongside triple-paned windows and a few hundred super-efficient heat pumps to redistribute heating and cooling throughout the building.

“Geothermal in combination with the heat pumps is an incredibly efficient system,” said Jones.

After the heat dome and record high temperatures in the summer of 2021, a decision was made to add air conditioning to the project as well. This would have added significantly to the utility costs. However, the heat pumps used in the redesign are 400 per cent efficient at heating and 700 per cent efficient at cooling which significantly reduces the energy requirements and utility costs.

Net-Zero Ready

Net-zero would have meant that all of Grace Village’s energy is produced on-site, but there was not enough roof space to install enough solar panels to provide all of the energy.

While the building is efficient enough to be net-zero it is referred to as net-zero ready. There is some natural gas used in the commercial kitchen, for a backup boiler and the laundry equipment. Jones said it will be interesting to see if they can eliminate the use of natural gas over time.

Over one third of Edmonton’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. “So, if we don't tackle buildings we're not going to get to where we need to be by 2050,” said Jones.

According to Jones, the project has been transformational for the Salvation Army and there are lessons here for other non-profit organizations and companies alike to build better buildings.

“My goal is that this project sets a precedent for the Salvation Army,” said Jones. “We've done it, now we can do it again and we can refer to this project and incorporate what makes sense in other projects.”

Changing For Climate is a series featuring everyday Edmontonians, businesses and organizations who are actively Changing for Climate—and getting us closer to our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

For more information, visit edmonton.ca/ChangingForClimateSeries.