Company looks to build solar community in southeast
Electricity from rooftop solar panels to be used for homes, sold to SaskPower
A Vancouver-based developer wants to take advantage of Saskatoon’s solar potential to build a unique sustainable community in the city’s southeast.
The concept involves building all homes in the community with solar panels on their roofs. The roofs would be owned by the developer, not the homeowner, and collect energy to power the entire community.
Paul Buitenhuis, vice-president of development with Arbutus Properties, appeared before city council’s planning, development and community services committee on Monday to explain the concept.
“We think it’s the first in Western Canada,” Buitenhuis told the committee. “We think it’s the first in the country.”
Like most of Saskatoon’s new neighbourhoods, it would include a mix of single-family homes and higher-density housing like apartments and townhouses.
Arbutus is considering developing a trapezoidal plot of land east of the Rosewood neighbourhood that is owned by the Franko family. It lies partly within city limits and partly in the Rural Municipality of Corman Park, although the portion in the RM is projected to be where Saskatoon will grow.
The community, which lies east of The Meadows neighbourhood Arbutus is developing, would one day include 2,000 to 2,200 homes.
Buitenhuis said cheaper land than exists elsewhere in Canada made the city the right choice for the residential development.
“There’s not many places where you could do this in Canada,” he said. “The land prices are too high.”
Buitenhuis said he expects it to take two to five years just to get the approvals for the project to move forward.
The solar tiles for the roofs are expected to become available in 2018.
There’s also the city’s official growth plan to consider. The developing neighbourhood of Brighton in the city’s east-side Holmwood sector is supposed to be completed before any new communities are started, the committee heard.
Mayor Charlie Clark noted that approving the community could require adjustments to the city’s growth plan.
Buitenhuis also faced some questions about the plans for narrow streets.
Committee members wondered about accommodating transit and emergency vehicles.
Coun. Darren Hill said concern has already been expressed about the width of streets in some of Saskatoon’s newer neighbourhoods.
The Arbutus community goal is for streets to be pedestrian friendly, Buitenhuis said, moving away from the wide roads and car-focused environment that has driven most suburban development in North America.
He said the community would also feature “rain gardens” around homes instead of a stormwater sewer or big drainage ponds. The homes would be high efficiency, in addition to being powered by solar energy.
Buitenhuis called SaskPower “willing partners” with Arbutus on the proposal, noting the provincial Crown corporation wants to increase the amount of electricity produced by renewables. The solar roofs are expected to provide enough energy for the community, and the rest would be sold to SaskPower, Buitenhuis said.
“I think we should be the first to attempt to do this,” Coun. Troy Davies said.