Two residential housing projects in Ottawa are trying to prove that transforming energy efficiency theory into reality can help combat rising fuel costs.

One project is rooted in technology and if scalable to the average home, could turn energy efficiency into self-sufficiency. The other is market-driven and will need to meet the challenge of consumer demand to sell the 300 units being built to Energy Star standards.

Bruce Nicol, vice-president of Tartan Homes, does not think building an entire subdivision to Energy Star standards is a gamble.

"The home-construction business is a pretty conservative one, but we think the market is ahead of most builders when it comes to appreciating energy efficiency and air quality," he says.

Ashley Fraser, Business Edge
Building M24C is the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology research home.

Tartan and co-developer Tamarack Homes have committed to the standard for all 300 units in Jackson Trails, a 133-acre development in Stittsville, just west of Ottawa. Construction began in May and the first units should be occupied by summer 2006.

By incorporating R-25 insulation, argon-gas windows, and high-efficiency appliances and furnaces, among other improvements, the developers are aiming for houses that are 30 to 40 per cent more efficient than those built to minimum Ontario building code standards, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Energy Star standards can add up to a four-per-cent premium on construction costs.

Energy Star is intended to help consumers identify energy-efficient appliances and products and is part of NRCan's EnerGuide, an initiative that helps consumers purchase the most efficient equipment on the market.

Jackson Trails is mostly single-family and semi-detached dwellings, ranging in size from about 1,590 to 3,095 sq. ft. Prices range from $225,900 to $377,900.

Some low-rise condominiums are planned for the development, if the market conditions are right. The units would be in the 850- to 900-sq.-ft. range and would have starting prices of about $150,000.

Heat-recovery ventilators also will be used to keep fresh air flowing and recover heat from exhaust. Air-tight houses need adequate circulation to avoid allergic reactions to vapours from construction materials.

"Health is an emotional issue for a lot of people and they'll pay a premium for it," Nichol says. "But you can't price too aggressively."

"It makes it easier for the consumer to accept (additional cost) if the entire development is built to the same standards and you make it a community value," he says.

NRCan designed the Energy Star specifications for the Jackson Trails development, which is the first of its kind in Canada.

"We wanted a prescriptive approach to residential energy efficiency, to show that small engineering and insulation changes can be good for owners, who save money and get a healthier house, and for builders, who make more money," says Jennifer Talsma, account manager for new-housing programs for NRCan's office of energy efficiency.

Ashley Fraser, Business Edge
NRCan onsite engineer Frank Szadkowski checks the high-tech controls of the FCT's solid-oxide fuel cell that provides heat and electricity to the 2,000-sq.-ft., four-bedroom home.

The Ottawa project is part of a federal program promoting similar residential energy savings across the country, including Built Green in Alberta, Manitoba Power Smart New Home Program, Green Home in the Yukon and Novo Climate in Quebec.

"The goal is to get this kind of energy efficiency into building codes, so by 2010 all new homes will be R-2000 certified," Talsma says. R-2000 is the most energy efficient and environmentally responsible new home standard on the market, according to NRCan.

Another NRCan department, however, is more concerned about systems than it is about building codes.

In building M24C at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology, engineers are hoping to prove that a hydrogen fuel cell is closer than many people think to providing all the energy a house needs. M24C is a 2,000-sq.-ft., R-2000-standard, four-bedroom home - occupied by an electronically simulated family of four.

The power centre - a five-kilowatt, solid-oxide fuel cell about the size of two large refrigerators - is just inside the garage door. It is the first fuel cell ever installed in a residential structure in Canada.

Assembled by Fuel Cell Technologies Ltd. of Kingston, it uses natural gas to produce hydrogen. Converting available fuel makes solid oxide cells more practical than the proton exchange membrane, which is favoured by the transportation industry and uses pure hydrogen.

The cell's fuel-use efficiency runs at about 80 to 90 per cent, which is about the same as a high-efficiency furnace.

Instead of generating only heat, however, the cell also produces electricity - about 2.5 to three kilowatts of each - for the same amount of natural gas.

NRCan's onsite engineer Frank Szadkowski spends much of his time tinkering with the system's high-tech controls to find the most efficient balance of consumption and production.

While electricity generation is more than adequate - unused electricity is fed back into the grid - overall efficiency is not yet a reality.

"There are still some questions about how to meet heat requirements in peak periods. Once we figure that out, we may have ourselves a winner," he says.

A normal house requires five to six kilowatts - more during peak periods - to operate and the project's goal is to prove that one piece of technology can deliver it all, says Mike Bell, manager of strategic projects development at NRCan.

"This is the ultimate challenge of residential energy efficiency, getting both from one system. There are lots of people out there trying to find the optimal way to integrate the two, but as far as I know, no one has yet been able to insert it into a house and make it work," he says.

"Fuel-cell technology seems to be the best bet. We believe within a few years the integration techniques we're learning here will make (an affordable fuel cell) ready to put into ordinary homes," Bell says.

That is a tall order considering the fuel cell in M24C cost about $250,000 US to build - a pricetag not included in the year-long project's bill of $260,000.

The cell is expensive because it is handmade, says Vikram Varma, director of corporate development for Fuel Cell Technologies Ltd.

"The technology is pretty straightforward," Varma says. "The key to marketability is to lower the volume by making smaller cell stacks and gaining economies of scale from mass production. Our long-term target is about $1,000 per kilowatt, which means we're heading toward about $8,000 for an (in-house) unit."

The company also hopes to offer the option of going completely off-grid, which means adapting fuel consumption to renewables such as methanol and bioethanol.

"It already has applications for the military or for remote areas, but we feel this project with NRCan will demonstrate that this can be today's solution (for high-efficiency residential use)," Varma says.

(Mike Levin can be reached at levin@businessedge.ca)