Bathurst Quay co-op considered for hydro makeover

By Duncan McAllister –

The Windward Co-op on Bathurst Quay is at the top of a very short list of buildings being considered for a radical makeover as part of the Downtown West Multi-Unit Solar Energy project, a working group of volunteers examining ways to finance and implement urban solar energy projects.

Windward, like many Downtown buildings, heats by hydro, which is quite costly. Although it is older than many of its neighbours, Windward’s hydro bill challenge is common to the newest condos: MP Olivia Chow reported recently that residents of one Cityplace tower asked her office for retrofit support to lower their outrageous heating costs. So far, no practical solution has been developed to avert what could become a costly hydro bill for condominium and co-op boards.

Tim Grant and David Booz, co-chairs of the project and Harbord Village residents, are looking to change that. They are researching the technology, suppliers, and funding to install large-scale solar energy systems on existing buildings.

Their goal is to launch a pilot installation at one condominium building and one co-op building, and to identify which buildings would be interested in participating in the project. So far they have attracted the interest of a number of area residents, with representatives from the Harbour Channel co-op, Bloor and Spadina condominiums, Windward co-op, Cawthra at Beverly and College, The Niagara St. co-op and the 397 Brunswick co-op.

According to Jim Mulheron, a Windward resident and committee member, “We think it’s a good opportunity for us to be a leader in the community, and we also believe that we will, in the short or long run, save a great deal of money.”

Regarding the cost of the project, he adds, “We are in the process now of putting all the facts and figures together, as to the capital cost outlay, if any. The reason I say if any is because there has been talk of some financial support by various government entities or perhaps even Toronto Hydro. That has yet to be confirmed. If some financial support came to the party, then certainly we would be more than willing to be the pilot project in our area.”

Windward co-op, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, missed an ideal opportunity to retrofit their heating system two years ago. The entire building was re-plumbed to replace all the copper water pipe, which was defective and pitting, at a cost of $400,000.

Grant is pleased that Windward is considering participation in the pilot. He and his project committee visited the Windward rooftops and are excited by the possibilities. Windward, Grant reports, can accommodate three different types of generation systems. “On the sloping roof we can consider hot water panels,” he explains. “The flat roof could have photo-voltaic electricity producing panels. And because it’s a windy site, apropos to its name,” he adds, “we can consider small three-metre wind turbines with a one-foot spin in either direction. It’s like an egg beater essentially.”

At a meeting on March 21, Walter Ross (a committee member and resident of the Brunswick St. co-op on board for the project) gave an update to the group. He has prepared a preliminary discussion paper, and has met with representatives of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) with the aim of obtaining seed funding for the project.

The financial incentives down the road may well be worth the effort of installing these systems, however the challenge is in financing the up-front capital costs. Condominium reserve funds tend to be locked-in, so building owners must find alternate sources of financing. The Downtown West group is currently exploring equipment lease arrangements, similar in concept to how Enbridge leases water heaters to homeowners. In each case, a financial analysis needs to be conducted to determine the costs, benefits and payback.

These installations also require an engineering assessment to consider such variables as roof and wind loading, zoning and right-to-light issues.

Fidel Reijerse is a resident of the Niagara St. co-op, as well as the president of Resco Energy Inc. His engineering group has already conducted a number of rooftop surveys to determine the suitability of prospective buildings in the area.

The Windward co-op is currently under consideration as a candidate for the pilot, since it has an unobstructed southern solar exposure. The Windward building rooftop is ideal for a solar installation, as it has available hookups to building water and power, and equipment anchoring points.

Says Reijerse, “In this case, there’s an opportunity to do a smaller commercial system that we’re trying to see if it works in a condo side of things. It’s a concentrator system that does thermal and electric.” A very rough estimate for this installation according to Reijerse, would be in the ballpark of between 140 to 200 thousand dollars.

Says Jack Ferris, a long-time Windward resident, “We have an opportunity here to convert to electric [solar] heating, what we have now is obsolete, and air conditioning. We don’t have proper air conditioning. We have units here and there, and it’s just terrible because it’s unfair, so we could do the whole thing, the energy we could obtain from there, write that off—we would really have something.”

Grant wants to smooth the way for other groups contemplating future solar installations. “Eventually, we will share the information we’ve gathered and the lessons learned with those living in all other downtown multi-unit buildings, so that it will be easier for everyone else to bring the benefits of solar energy to their buildings.”

The Downtown West pilot is breaking new ground and aims to work through the barriers that they have encountered. According to Grant, they are looking to engage organizations such as TAF to assist in dealing with municipal issues such as Toronto Hydro hookups, zoning bylaws and city council liaison.

They want to get the word out to building owners, and work with similar residents’ groups in Toronto. They have been evaluating solar share arrangements and organizations like the West Toronto Initiative for Solar Energy (WISE) and Bullfrog Power, a green Ontario electricity retailer that buys 100% of its power from renewable electricity producers.

The group is also exploring various funding and government incentives that may encourage building owners to install the systems, such as the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA). Says Grant, “This is an area with an explosion of activity … The city of Toronto is in a unique situation.”

The Downtown West group has recently submitted a 24-page request for proposal to nineteen different solar energy suppliers, and will choose a winning bidder to construct the systems for the pilot.

For information or to add a building to the list of potential partners, contact Grant at (416) 960-1244 or e-mail tim@greenteacher.com.