Mike Holmes has been involved in a ground breaking affordable housing project designed for seniors and disabled people in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. The Boyle Renaissance project will utilize energy efficient and environmentally friendly technology to generate power and heat for the building. Such technology is not new, but it's the first time it's being used in a building project on Canadian soil. As the project enters phase 2, Mike Holmes has been publicly touting the cost savings and environmental benefits of CHP (combined heat and power).

From iNews880.com:

Mike Holmes shows off a 'first' in heating technology in city housing project
1:41pm
Click here to email Scott Johnston
12/21/2012

The newest affordable housing project in the downtown is showing off its progress to this point, and is boasting about its new fangled technology to make it energy efficient.

And they brought in TV contractor Mike Holmes to help demonstrate it.

The building now has a name, the Renaissance Tower, and it's being built by the Métis Capital Housing Corporation to create ninety units for seniors.

"We're looking at about a 15 per cent more cost upfront but you get paid back forever," boasts Holmes. "Imagine saving 66% of off-gas into the atmosphere. 66 per cent of less energy costs. Do the math."

"It's not a new technology, it's an old idea," said Holmes Group associate Seth Atkins. "The idea of linking different buildings together has been done on campuses and in Europe for many years to great effect and efficiency. The difference is what we're looking at doing is putting in CHP, that's combined heat and power. Combined heat and power allows us to generate electricity, capture the waste heat and utilize that to heat our buildings. That means we can feed the electricity back into the grid and we have an opportunity to increase our efficiencies and reduce our energy costs".

It's not just this building going up on 95 Street north of 103A Avenue. The co-gen technology is being tied in to an adjoining building too. It's a Canadian first, where two buildings, with two owners are working together.

"We could see this expand to buildings over 14 kilometers," said Holmes.

"If we can expand that system throughout Edmonton's downtown we'll be able to increase the efficiencies greatly and eliminate plumes off the top of the office towers in Edmonton."

Normally heat goes up the stack on the rooftop and the plume escapes into the atmosphere. What this will do is instead is the heat will be captured and will heat the water which is then piped through the building.

"By doing that you're eliminating the GHGs that are normally admitted into the atmosphere and you're increasing the efficiency of the building, lowering costs, and creating a more efficient system," explained Atkins.

"It's going to save us a lot of money in the long haul," said Darlene Lennie, the executive director of the Métis Capital Housing Corporation.

"When I'm dealing with clients that are barely making their budget from month to month this becomes very important to them. We as a corporation pay the utilities on behalf of our client and they pay a fixed rate so they don't have the immediate impact but we certainly do as a company."

Lennie says the construction is a few weeks behind schedule because they lost a lot of time because of the weather this past spring and summer, but she expects they'll get caught up over the next year.

Renaissance Tower is due to open in the fall of 2013. (sj, twd)
Photo: iNews880's Scott Johnston

From the Edmonton Journal:

Boyle Street Renaissance Project heating up

Phase 2 of inner-city housing development features unique energy-generating system

Mike Holmes with Alan Smyth, senior project manager for Clarke builders, inspects the new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project phase 2 on December 21, 2012 in Edmonton.

Photograph by: Bruce Edwards , Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - The second phase in the Boyle Renaissance Project not only has a new name, but will use a unique energy-generating system.The affordable housing project for seniors will be named Renaissance Tower, Darlene Lennie of the Metis Capital Housing Corporation announced at a news conference Friday.
“We thought it was very fitting because it is for seniors and disabled Edmontonians,” Lennie said.
“We thought it appropriate that the new home in the rapid, changing inner-city that the new project be called Renaissance Tower.”
Along with a new name, Lennie also announced the seven-storey, 90-unit building will be the first of its kind to use the combined heat and power system between two buildings with two different owners. The tower, on the corner of 95 Street between 104 and 105 Avenue, will be equipped to generate electricity which can be fed back into the grid and provide heat to two buildings.
The 380-kilowatt microgeneration system is scheduled to be installed on the roof of the building in March. Using natural gas, the system will produce electricity and use the waste heat, normally expelled into the air, to heat the tower and provide heat for the YMCA building across the street in Phase 1 of the Renaissance Project.
“The idea of linking buildings and sharing heat is an old idea,” said Seth Atkins, director of the Holmes Homes project. “The idea of using combined heat and power, where you’re generating electricity and feeding it back to the grid and eliminating waste heat into the atmosphere, that’s a new idea.”
Holmes Homes, a national organization created by contractor and tv personality Mike Holmes became involved in March 2011, when he was asked by the city to look at sustainability issues.
“What has interested me is the people who care,” Holmes said. “Between Darlene and the City of Edmonton, I see the people that care, and because I see that, I’m very happy to be part of it.”
Holmes gave a tour of the tower, which currently stands at four storeys.
The idea of district energy — the sharing of energy between buildings — is not a new idea, but it is the first application of the combined heat and power systems in Edmonton between two different building owners to create the system, and is rarely installed in an affordable housing residence.
Atkins points out the generation facility will have the capacity to operate over 14 kilometres and is hopeful it could expand to other buildings.
“The generation source is capable of travelling great distances to heat different buildings,” said Atkins. “The more buildings you can put into that one generation source, the more effiencies you can generate.”
The use of the co-generation systems can result in an increased cost up front, but because of a partnership with Enmax, the cost to the Metis Capital Housing Corp will remain the same amount as if regular boilers were being used. “It will save us a lot of money in the long haul,” said Lennie.
The Metis Capital Housing Corp provided $6 million of the funding for the housing project, which is also receiving municipal funding through the Cornerstones project, as well as federal and provincial funding.

Lennie expects the $22-million dollar project will meet its September 2013 completion date, despite being a few weeks behind on construction due to weather.
The Renaissance Tower housing unit is the second phase of the redevelopment. Phase 1, which completed construction earlier this month, features YMCA affordable housing in one building, and a community centre including child care, office and recreation space in another. The entire project puts social services and housing in one 2-1/2- block area and is designated as a district in The Quarters Downtown redevelopment initiative.

Photos: Boyle Renaissance Project

See photos here of the second phase in the Boyle Renaissance Project. The affordable housing project for seniors will be named Renaissance Tower. Contractor and TV personality Mike Holmes was on hand Friday, December 21, 2012 for a tour and inspection of the site. Holmes Homes, a national organization created by Holmes became involved in March 2011, when he was asked by the city to look at sustainability issues.

December 21, 2012

Mike Holmes with the construction workers at the new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project phase 2 on December 21, 2012 in Edmonton. Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal

Mike Holmes inspects the new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project phase 2 on December 21, 2012 in Edmonton. Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal

Mike Holmes talks with a worker as he inspects the new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project phase 2. A 90 unit seniors-friendly, barrier-free residential complex with features the latest in ‘green’ design in Edmonton on December 21, 2012. Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal

The new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project phase 2. A 90 unit seniors-friendly, barrier-free residential complex with features the latest in ‘green’ design on December 21, 2012 in Edmonton. Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal

Mike Holmes with Darcy Odwyerof Clarke builders inspects the new Boyle Renaissance Senior’s project on December 21, 2012 in Edmonton. Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal

From the Edmonton Sun:

Mike Holmes helps city break ground for new Edmonton seniors' residence

By Angelique Rodrigues,Edmonton Sun

First posted: Friday, December 21, 2012 02:17 PM MST | Updated: Friday, December 21, 2012 03:43 PM MST

Reality TV handyman Mike Holmes is helping break ground in energy efficiency — and breaking down barriers — with a new inner city seniors’ residence set to open next fall.

For the second phase of the Boyle Renaissance project, part of the downtown Quarters redevelopment, Metis Capital Housing Corporation will operate the 90-unit complex that will house Metis seniors and the disabled at 95 Street and 104 Avenue.
The $22-million facility, set to open next fall, will be barrier free and is touted as being one of the most energy efficient buildings in the province because of a unique heating system inside the building. All three levels of government have pitched in to help make the project a reality.
“This is not widespread technology — but it should be,” said Mike Holmes — star of HGTV’s Holmes on Homes — who was on hand Friday to give a tour and a hearty thumbs up to the new seniors’ residence.
“It’s an opportunity to build intelligently to increase efficiencies and decrease operating costs.”
Holmes says he was drawn to the project because he believes the co-generation technology is the way forward for all home and business owners.

“Everyone says it’s too much money to build with new technology and smarter systems,” he said. “But the truth is it’s the only thing that pays you back on a monthly basis.”

The new tech inside the seniors’ centre is known as a co-generation heating system which will allow it to share hot water produced by an electric grid with the YMCA Welcome Village next door.
“This is the future, this technology is an opportunity to build intelligently to increase efficiencies and decrease operating costs,” said Holmes.
The system is estimated to cost 15% more on the capital side but is 25% more efficient than a standard boiler system, said Holmes.
The affordable housing complex was officially given a name Friday — the Renaissance Tower — and officials are delighted to finally have a title for the project.
Mayor Stephen Mandel and Senator Elaine McCoy turned out to Friday’s project update and the tour with Holmes.
Mandel says the city is proud to be one of the first in Alberta to implement this kind of technology.
“I’m very pleased and proud of those who are working so passionately on this dynamic and innovative project,” he said. “This is just a wonderful, sustainable project.”
Other eco-friendly features in the tower — which will be seven storeys tall once it’s complete — include solar panels, green rooftop spaces, and mould resistant exterior materials.
The city has earmarked close to $60 million for redevelopment in the Quarters.
angelique.rodrigues@sunmedia.ca

Here's some recent images I've found of the project just to give you a better idea of what it actually looks like: