Toronto's Healthy House: Off-The-Shelf Technologies Result In A First In Residential Redevelopment by Steven Peck, Peck & Associates Rolf Paloheimo, Creative Communities Research Inc.

Many of the symptoms of unsustainable urban development, such as contaminated storm water, have their roots in how our homes and lots interface with the natural environment. Toronto's Healthy House is an example of a home which is healthy for both the environment and the occupants. It uses solar power for energy, collects and treats rainwater for drinking water, cycles gray water and treats its own wastewater using off-the-shelf technologies.

In June 1991, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (Canada's national housing body), announced its Healthy House Design Competition. One of the objects of the contest was to demonstrate to the public and the housing industry that it is now possible to design homes for the Canadian climate that are in keeping with the principles of sustainable development. The Healthy House had to: promote occupant health; enhance energy efficiency; improve the efficient use of natural resources; encourage environmental responsibility and be affordable. In February 1992, an independent jury selected two winning designs - in Toronto and Vancouver. The Toronto design was for a 1,700 square foot, semi-detached house on a vacant (in fill) lot in the community of Riverdale.

The development of Toronto's Healthy House was completed in the fall of 1996 by Creative Communities Research Inc.. The project includes two homes, one of which is a home that has been on display to the public. The other one is home for Mr. Paloheimo, the developer responsible for undertaking the project, and his family.

The design of the project went through many iterations before construction began. Both homes include three bedrooms plus a home office, each on a lot measuring 22.5 feet by 80 feet. These are small lots, even by Toronto standards. Each house provides its own wastewater treatment and disposal as well as fresh water from a rain water cistern system. Both houses reclaim wastewater and recycle it to toilets, laundry, hose bibs, and optionally to showers and baths.

One house provides all its own energy, the other provides energy to Ontario Hydro when the sun is shining and consumes Hydro energy at other times.

CMHC's FIVE ESSENTIALS TO HEALTHY HOUSING Occupant Health High efficiency ventilation system to ensure superior air quality. Low emission paints to reduce vapors. Hardwood and tile floors which are easier to clean. Cabinetry and shelving from special products that do not emit formaldehyde and other vapors. Storage rooms ventilated to exterior. Energy Efficiency High efficiency hot water heating system to reduce fuel consumption. Increased insulation levels in walls and attic. High efficiency windows and doors. Energy efficiency appliances. Energy efficient lighting like compact flourescents. Generous windows to reduce lighting costs. Resource Efficiency Low flow toilets and plumbing fixtures to conserve water. Efficient use of building materials to reduce construction waste. Extensive use of recycled building materials. Use of rapid growing woods like spruce and maple. Locally produced materials to support the local economy. Environmentally Responsible Recycling of old building materials. Recycling centre in the kitchen. Exterior composter. Better use of site by increasing occupant density. Use of building products that require lower energy to manufacture. Home office to reduce vehicle usage. Affordable Use of products that are readily available at reasonable cost. Flexible design will reduce future renovation costs. Low maintenance, long lasting materials and finishes. High indoor air quality for better occupant health and lower health care costs. Energy efficiency means lower heating and electricity costs.

Key Features of Toronto's Healthy House

Toronto's Healthy House incorporates existing technology for building materials, water and energy systems, appliances and landscaping design. The developer's goals for the project were to maximize the efficient use of resources without sacrificing the occupants' lifestyle. The project also provides an interesting platform for the analysis of the demands that housing creates for infrastructure.

The Healthy House is the joint product of a number of public and private partners, with a broad range of expertise. Important features of the Toronto Healthy House include the following:

• Self-sufficiency. They do not depend on existing energy, water supply or sewer infrastructure.

• They depend on rainfall for water supply and reclaim the water they use.

• There is no storm water runoff from the lot. Rain is used as a water supply, using municipal treatment technology in a unique configuration.

• Waste water is treated and reclaimed on site. State of the art on-site wastewater treatment technologies are combined with municipal drinking water technology to reliably turn sewage into water that can be used to flush toilets and water gardens.

• Solar panels generate electricity, in one home it is stored for later use and a co-generator provides back-up power and heat. The other home is connected to the Toronto grid and supplies power back to the grid when it is running a surplus and consumes power at other times.

• In the winter, solar radiant floors have been designed to retain solar heat during the day and radiate it to the interior at night. If required, warm water is circulated through the floors through embedded pipes to supplement solar heat.

• Energy efficiency is achieved through airtight wall and roof construction, thermally efficient triple-glazed windows and skylights and high levels of insulation and weather resistance in the building envelope. The Solar panels and ivy growing on the exterior of each house provide shading in the summer.

• The homes use low flush toilets, low-flow shower heads and aerator faucets. Kitchen appliances are high efficiency in water and energy use. The custom built refrigerator uses super-insulation which is five times more effective than urethane foam. The refrigerator mechanics are positioned outside the house in order to improve efficiency in winter, reduce heat gain in the summer and reduce internal noise levels. .

• Building materials have been carefully selected to ensure high air quality and reduce environmental impact.

The costs of building the Toronto Healthy House.

The Toronto Healthy House is a research and public education tool and as such, costs cannot be directly compared with conventional tract or production housing. However some conclusions can be drawn about the costs of building such homes in the future.

Infrastructure

The Healthy House wastewater system cost $15,000 per unit. This is significantly cheaper than conventional water infrastructure costs for this site, which would have been approximately $80,000. In the Greater Toronto Area, the typical wastewater initial cost is $7-8,000 per unit in a greenfield setting. In many rural areas, water and wastewater infrastructure can exceed $100,000 per unit.

The solar electric system for the unit that is not connected to the grid costs approximately $35,000 more than a regular electrical system ,with the solar panels and the batteries accounting for most of this. All of the technology used is off-the-shelf. The batteries have a life span of 15 years and represent a consumable.

The solar electric system that is connected to the Toronto grid costs approximately $20,000 more than a regular electrical system. Ontario Hydro put in a power conditioner which transforms solar DC power into power that can be used on the grid. Each of these units cost $500 and the result is that lighter gage and less expensive wire can be used throughout the house. The estimated annual operating costs of both units in the Health House is under $300.

The passive solar system (floor, windows, outside shell) costs more than traditional products and will likely add approximately 20 percent to overall building costs. The primary benefits of these systems are the enhanced comfort, resulting from the more even temperature gradient throughout the house. Over the course of 15 to 20 years, a homeowner would likely recoup this investment through energy cost savings.

None of these costs reflect the financial benefits stemming from the Healthy House. These include: long term infrastructure maintenance and upgrading; water and wastewater operating costs; and a reduction in the costs associated with the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation. On a per unit basis these added benefits are minimal. But in aggregate, they represent significant potential environmental and economic benefits to society.

Conclusion

Toronto's Healthy House demonstrates that we already have much of the technology we need to begin to build more sustainable housing as the basis for more sustainable communities. The Healthy House has important implications for community planning and municipal infrastructure development. Do we really need to spend millions of dollars transporting sewage and drinking water for miles and miles? We can use solar power in combination with existing electrical infrastructure to reduce peak demand and the need, for example, to burn coal. More efforts need to be made to bring new technological developments in housing design and construction, such as those utilized in the Healthy House, into the mainstream in order to reduce infrastructure costs and their related environmental impacts.

For more detail on the design of the Toronto Healthy House go to the CMHC web site which profiles the project: www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/HealthyHousing/Toronto/

Steven Peck is the principal of Peck & Associates, a firm dedicated to identifying and implementing "win-win" policies and programmes in support of sustainable development. Over the past seven years, he has worked on a wide variety of initiatives that involve economic and environmental progress by governments, associations and the private sector.

Rolfe Paloheimo is the president of Creative Communities Research Inc. and the developer of the Toronto Healthy House. Mr. Paloheimo has worked in construction and as an infill developer in the Greater Toronto Area over the past decade. He is currently focusing his activities on further developing and marketing the water treatment systems that are used in the Healthy House.

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