Greening the Farm
Montreal housing complex goes social and sustainable
BY Aimée van Drimmelen
Photography by Aimée van Drimmelen
Amid the bleak concrete streets of a rapidly changing city, Alex Hill is managing an oasis—or at least its energy needs. Getting the green light to “go green” last year, Benny Farm, a unique housing project in Montreal’s west end, has been breaking conventional construction codes, winning awards and blazing a trail for future ecoentrepreneurs.
“It’s a demonstration that community social housing can also be sustainable,” says Hill, who sits at the helm of Énergie Verte Benny Farm (EVBF), the non-profit, in-house utility company mandated (through a $3-million Federation of Canadian Municipalities grant it received last year) to oversee the green reconstruction of 187 housing units—about a third of the existing infrastructure at Benny Farm. It is also the icing on the cake after a victorious 14-year battle between community, government and commercial interests for the site.
Benny Farm, a federally funded 18-acre housing complex built for war veterans in the ’40s, began sticking out like a sore thumb due to low occupancy and disrepair in the early ’90s. Despite proposals from neighbourhood residents for affordable housing, federal owners— first Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and then the Canada Land Company (CLC)—preferred the idea of condominiums.
Members of a neighbourhood housing committee didn’t agree that public property should simply be sold to the highest bidder. After years of negotiation, studies and flat-out political fights that spilled into local media and the streets in the form of several demonstrations, the CLC finally conceded to public consultations. In 2002 the Benny Farm Task Force was formed to ensure the needs of the people were heard. Today, community-based, affordable housing initiatives occupy the majority of the site. Residents started to move in last fall.
Of six non-profit housing initiatives that won bids for the land, three currently fall under the EVBF umbrella: Chez-Soi, a non-profit seniors’ residence; Project ZOO (Zone of Opportunity), co-operative rentals for young families; and HCNDG, affordable home ownership for middle income residents. Each elects two representatives to EVBF’s board of directors, which also has seats for the community at large.
Montreal-based architecture firm L’OEUF (L’Office de l'eclectisme urbain et fonctionnel), known for its work in sustainable building, has set up a green infrastructure spanning the three sites.
“One of the most novel aspects of this project is the mixture of energy efficiency measures,” explains Hill. “All of these systems are constantly working side by side to produce energy in different ways.” Green features include reuse of building materials, energy efficient retrofitting and heating with geothermal and solar technologies.
According to Hill, the complex’s energy saving measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 313 tonnes annually, and water and energy use by 30 to 50 percent.
EVBF will charge residents for energy services and hot water below what they would be paying normally, but above actual costs, to accumulate an estimated $640,000 over the next 15 years. This revenue will be used for further greening of the site, educational activities for residents and the community, and taking steps toward the eventual replication of the project in Montreal and beyond.
Residents will get the security of living partially off the grid, sheltered from energy prices that won’t be going down any time soon.
“A big part of the vision is to create a model that can influence policies, and be an inspiration for future projects and investments,” says Hill. “There’s really nothing else like it.”
