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A Unique Solar Powered Community in Canada

inhabitat.com — The Drake Landing Solar Community is the first solar powered community of North America. Located in the town of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, the project sets a wonderful example of how every household can lead a sustainable lifestyle.

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maing 27 days ago, made popular 26 days ago

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thestrongrope, on 07/24/2008, -1/+25It is great that a planned community is taking this type of initiative, but isn't a suburb still a suburb? (i know, I am never happy). But don't we need to rethink the way we live not just retrofit it?
- RogerStrong, on 07/24/2008, -1/+8I just moved from the inner city (Winnipeg) to a suburb. It's easier to be green in the suburb.
  
  In our old house (like the vast majority of inner city houses) was very old - 96 years old. Though we spend a fortune on new windows and insulation, it'll never be remotely as energy efficient as the new house.
  
  The major food stores are all out in the suburbs - living downtown, grocery shopping meant a trip to the suburbs. Heck, in Winnipeg if you work 9 to 5 and you want to go to the bank or get a transit pass without taking time off work, you need to travel out to the suburbs where banks and shops are open late. Nor did living downtown save gas or time on the commute to work.
  
  For a small town like the one in the story, there's no downtown vs the suburbs - only the main street any everything else.
  - thestrongrope, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Roger,
    
    That is my point about rethinking the whole damn thing. They obviously didn't worry about the city of Winnepeg (I have never been there and cant comment first hand) since you have to travel out of the city limits to do your shopping. Since you have to go out to the suburbs to do you main business maybe they should consider giving you some better services in the metropolitan area. I don't know if putting a solar development is going to alleviate the problems that you have expressed. I think there needs to be a much larger shift in the way we do things. just my opinion of course.
  - RogerStrong, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4I was refering mostly to the suburbs within city limits, though I'm now in the the suburbs outside of city limits.
    
    The problem is that Winnipeg is surrounded by farm land - lots of cheap land for the city to expand. And so the cost of land (and property taxes) for a new box store (and parking lot) is minor compared to downtown. And so that's where they get built, along with new housing.
  - Ramble, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4You think 96 years is old?
    Come to the UK, in the country you'll range from modern to 500 years to over 1000 years old.
  - asnider, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3"For a small town like the one in the story, there's no downtown vs the suburbs - only the main street any everything else"
    
    That's actually not very accurate. Okotoks is, essentially, a suburb of Calgary. Yes, technically, it's a different town, but a large number of people who live in Okotoks work in Calgary, so it's essentially a suburb of the large city next door (i.e.: Calgary).
- obliviousfool, on 07/25/2008, -1/+6I'm with you. If you're starting from scratch, you don't have to conform to these ideas of the past. This could have taken any shape, but here it just looks like a typical housing development with solar panels stuck on it. The effect is pretty ugly. It is a retro-fit, not a "future-fit."
  - krnldmp, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Well maybe. You have to consider the fact that people don't go through houses like cell phones and making decades old technology perform to modern standards (rerofitting) is a major interest that will exist for quite a while.
  - obliviousfool, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2Right. I wonder what these houses use for insulation. I wonder what kind of appliances they have.
    
    If you are thinking about putting solar cells on your roof, I can save you some money. Replace your refrigerator with a Sun Frost refrigerator. Replace your water heater with a few tankless water heaters.
    
    There you go. Now when you do get around to putting those solar cells up there, you won't be using them to pump energy into a broken and wasteful system.
    
    See, the problem is that if you retro-fit only one element, all the other elements are still wasteful. I appreciate the effort of these people, but ...they started from scratch and this was the best they could come up with?
    
    I mean, this system is just for heating and cooling. If these were earth-bermed structures, 90% of that cost would just be gone right from the start. It would be eliminated. You wouldn't need to keep feeding energy into a broken system. That's what I mean. These technologies work much better in concert with one another.
- belzoradon, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3refit seems like a better first step then no first step but what would you call a rethinking of the way we live? and how would you say we should get to the new way of living? id love to hear yours (or anyones) thoughts on the matter.
skewl, on 07/24/2008, -1/+15I hope other communities would take a cue from this and take more green initiatives...
- thcobbs, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3This is a really cool project. I think we need to move at least 10% of the USA's power consumption to private, non-polluting, renewable sources immediately. And solar is a great option because of the sheer number of roofs in the USA.
  
  I honestly think that we need a government initiative(god forbid I said it) to drive this forward. But the catch would be that any energy produced in excess of consumption for the home in question must be fed back into the grid and offset other peoples non-green energy use for free over a period of 10 years. Because if you take tax money(which the initiative would use) you shouldn't expect to profit off the result.
Odenized, on 07/24/2008, -1/+14Ground breaking! These solar powered communities give me so much hope for the future.
cygnox, on 07/24/2008, -1/+7Hats off to this community for using solar energy, but this looks like the atypical suburban sprawl communities built in the US after WWII to me. This design of this development is archaic compared to new beautifully designed mixed-use, and higher density subdivisions. I guess I'm just sick of seeing the same ugly designs over and over.
- Zenophon, on 07/24/2008, -0/+3That is what all of Okotoks looks like, they are just staying in the norm of the community.
  - cygnox, on 07/24/2008, -0/+5The design of the homes is not necessarily what I have an issue with, its the use of space that can be designed better. Instead of giving everyone a tiny little yard that looks the same, why not arrange the houses differently, such as in zero lot line developments, and create a common open space that everyone can enjoy. Just a thought...
  - dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1A common open space no one can grow their own stuff in? No thanks - I live in a block like that in West London, and it sucks that I do not have my own garden to grow veg in. Nobody actually bothers to do anything with the community space. It is actually a bit of a waste of space. If the freeholders allowed gardening or stuff like that on it, community gardening with food crops - I would agree with you.
- RogerStrong, on 07/24/2008, -1/+3A lot of suburbs tend to beat the downtown in that regard. I just moved from the downtown to a suburb. From soul-sucking gridiron streets with high-density nearly identical houses, to roads with more natural-looking curves, houses with more variety and much larger yards.
- revnoah, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3At least the garages are in the back. The designs are pretty basic though.
Zenophon, on 07/24/2008, -0/+10I live in Okotoks, however the houses are a few years old already. Im surprised it took this long to make it to digg...
- qianed, on 07/25/2008, -0/+0Wow, i live in calgary and have never heard of these houses before
MikeChino, on 07/24/2008, -1/+19Communities such as these should be the standard and not the exception!
- zacharytelschow, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4And what was the average cost of these homes due to their solar panels? Would you pay the extra cost?
  - 47f0, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Uhmmm - these are simple heat panels - not PV. Solar heating is an excellent, efficient and cheap technology. I think you're seeing solar panels and thinking electric - not the case here.
  - dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1You wait until the extra cost of not having microgenerated renewable energy resources catches up with you. I am just hoping I can sort out my situation before it catches up with me - being in a flat in a block (walk-up) then I can do little beyond using energy saving appliances right now.
RocqueMarketing, on 07/24/2008, -1/+12Hello USA, wake up! This is really great to see. Thanks for sharing it.
- beesaretasty, on 07/25/2008, -2/+2Hello Canada, you wake your own ass up*. Isn't all that controversy about oil sands mining coming from our friendly neighbors to the north.
  
  Agreed that it's good to see though.
  
  *If you're not from Canada, let me know what country you're from and I'll point out an appropriate controversy.
  - kingcam, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2Yes, but what do you propose, we just stop the drilling? Good luck getting to work in the morning in that case.
  - beesaretasty, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2I bike to work asshat.
Designliving, on 07/25/2008, -1/+7The design may need some work, but at least the thought is there. Now if only we could see more developments like this in the US!
nonamesleft3, on 07/25/2008, -3/+4This site takes a long time to load but is worth it - very cool. Let's hope this is the future of housing development
3tcp, on 07/25/2008, -9/+4That's sort of cool but really, Canada is not a very good place for solar power. Until California, Texas, Arizona and Florida are saturated with solar panels I won't applaud their placement in a location that will produce a fraction of the power and save a fraction of the amount of money that they would in a more appropriate part of the world.
- pigglesnout, on 07/25/2008, -1/+7Wow. Canada actually is an excellent place for solar power. Believe it or souther parts on Ontario are closer to the equator than parts of the US and get more sunlight. Even in Alberta (where this project is), gets tonnes of light during the summer months.
- taylorblue, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5I live in Alberta...during the summer we get a lot of sun...I know in the winter we can go weeks without seeing the sun by hey that's okay. And in Okotoks it's very southern... Montana isn't too far from where we are...
- revnoah, on 07/25/2008, -2/+5Right, since we all live in igloos up here in perpetual darkness. We'll keep our "inappropriate" solar energy, thanks. America can take care of itself.
- GVR90, on 07/25/2008, -2/+1Yeah you're right. Up in here in Canada we only get sunlight like one month out of the year... we'll just keep consuming oil like crazy, you lucky Americans.
- Probatus, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2In the summer where I am (Edmonton, Alberta) we have daylight from as early as 6AM until 10PM in the summer time. In winter time it is much less ~9AM until ~5PM. Not counting rainy/heavy snow days there is still quite a bit of sun each day. Even in Winter when it is cold the sun is quite bright and abundant. Someone needs to make a pair of sunglasses with Solar panels as lenses which can power an iPod. The reflection off of the snow is killer and if it is possible to harness that energy somehow we may as well use it.
- dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -1/+1While this chap is misinformed, I do not think I would have dug him down. To be fair, be it saving a lot of power in one place, or a little somewhere else, the fact that it has happened at all, the fact that some developer took the plunge and made it happen is great. I do hope it can happen in California, Texas, Arizona and Florida. I also hope it can happen in London too. Either way - its a good start. Well done to the Canadians for it.
taylorblue, on 07/25/2008, -1/+6That is just like 45 minutes from me!! :) Alberta is so great!!
- revnoah, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Much nicer than here in Ontario. We could learn a lot from Alberta.
  - kingcam, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2Like what exactly?
mdlyn26, on 07/25/2008, -2/+5wow, gives me an idea to put up one in my province... it is expensive??
- HonestAbe, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Yes.
- zacharytelschow, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Don't you think there's a reason there was no mention of cost in the article?
  - dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1When was the last time you saw the mention of cost of a complete suburbian property development? It would be handy to know.
    In answer to the OP (mdlyn26) it is probably expensive to develop a suburbs worth of housing anyway.
    
    This is probably an extra expense, but hey, so are all the building regulation things you have to do too.
    We could just develop all cheap as chips prefab concrete walkups everywhere and lease out individual flats if profit and cost were the only factors.
MommaLu, on 07/25/2008, -6/+6This would be great if it wasn't subsidized by the government. Green has to be affordable without the government's sticky fingers in our pockets.
- evilregis, on 07/25/2008, -3/+3Correction: It is great regardless. However, I'll agree that it'd be better if green was affordable without subsidizing it.
- belzoradon, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2im sorry but you are dead wrong on this count. yes it would be nice to be able to completely grassroots the green movement but its not just the job of the individual to go green and if a government wants to help then im all for taking that money & using whatever green changes i can afford with it
  - zacharytelschow, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1If going green is such a great idea, people would do it on their own. If everyone is supposed to do it, how could the "government" subsidize it? We are the government. If everyone "gets" something from the government, you're paying for it yourself.
  - dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Lets re-apply that logic. If eating well was such a good idea, people would do it on their own. Hmm. If giving up smoking was such a good idea... If having a job was such a good idea... If getting an education was such... If not binge drinking was such... (blah blah - you get the picture). The "do it on their own" probably only applies to an educated and resourceful subset of people. A majority do not know, do not understand, and vote for the guy with the most manly chin. It is this point when you realise that it does not matter how good something is, there is a huge majority who just don't get it enough to "do it on their own". Although I may be wrong on this count, I would like to think I am not part of that majority. Are you?
- dannystaple, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1I would rather they were subsidizing this than Tobacco plantations and oil operations (which they are). I would see it as less of a "sticky fingers" issue, than a government doing something noble for a change instead of the usual BS.
rontowns25, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2This is fantastic wow. Good call though that green needs to be affordable. It will be soon. Increased competition through innovation will drive prices downwards.... good ideas on how to do that in the excerpts here ... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
oogee, on 07/25/2008, -2/+5Hey, the comments on that page have the same thumb up and down that digg has. I almost dugg someone down and then I was like "where the ***** am I?"
HonestAbe, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5"The homes are moderately sized, ranging from 1,492 to 1,664 square feet, and have low energy demands ... Water conservation has been made mandatory in the homes."

...and that's the only way it will work.
disrupter, on 07/25/2008, -1/+7When the sun goes down, a massive underground beaver exercise wheel takes over.
videoclipsmiami, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4Excellent development, hopefully the U.S. will have similar developments in the not too distant future.
- belzoradon, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1only better because its people are gonna stop being disenfranchised with their gov and push for this sort of thing... right? ~cries for the US~
katorga, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Duh. Every roof should be generating energy rather than simply absorbing heat.
- zacharytelschow, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Duh. Its way cheaper to burn coal for energy than harness energy from the sun, and that's what people will do until the cost difference is negligible.
busybenj, on 07/25/2008, -0/+13I ♥ Canada
lazn, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4umm read the article, totally misleading, if you read it you will realize that: "The whole system meets 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs of the homes."

These houses still use electricity etc. for everything else TV's lights, etc .. Including cooling (A/C) and the other 10% of heating..

ALL this accomplishes is heating. (no small thing in frigid Canada true, but not a "solar powered community" in my book
- m0laria, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Your car has a battery in it. Guess it isn't a gas powered vehicle.
frishack, on 07/25/2008, -5/+1this neighborhood is as ugly and cold as a nazi concentration camp.
- Kinneas12, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Uh.. looks fine from the sky. Of course it'll look bare and cold while its still under construction (the last picture)
zacharytelschow, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Add this to the massive and growing list of articles glorifying alternative energy forms without any mention of the financial costs.
Isidore, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Good news.
It shows there are workable ways of reducing CO2 emissions without reverting to the Stone Age.

Sure, subsidies are involved. But this is pump priming investment, which market forces are not able to risk. Heck, governments subsidize military technoligies because we think it important.
- minoss, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Yea, no one ever takes risks in the market. If it was government no progress would ever be made, right?
  
  /sarcasm
  - Isidore, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1It's not an either/or between the government and private companies. Why do you think governments subsidize military and space technology? What would happen if government did not? Think DARPA think internet.
atomicbang13, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Reminds me of the Rush song, "Subdivisions".
jcbarret, on 07/25/2008, -1/+0solar power is definitely the way of the future, let's get some of that here in the states.
and morbid simile above...
minoss, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2So when government tosses a bunch of subsidies at a development projects and puts a bunch of limits on energy use and floorspace, alternative energy works! Well only if you only need heating and hot water and don't use power for anything else.
ilistenisee, on 07/25/2008, -1/+0cool...solar powered houses, electric plug-in cars :)
banderwocky, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2I hope that other communities, builders, city planners, etc, continue in a direction that involves better planing and energy distribution.
moun10addict, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Great idea, but I hope other neighborhoods like this in the future have a little more breathing room. I prefer to have to go outside in order to talk with my next door neighbor.
00slevin, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1I live in Okotoks, and it is a decent town. However this is just a small portion of the town and the town has not yet announced if they are going to continue on with this solar plan. This neighborhood is quite a few years old now and the town has had a major population explosion in recent years, ironically due to Albertas Oil Boom of all things, and since this area has been built, no more homes (that I know of) have been built to the same solar specs. We have a population of about 20,000 and supposedly it is being capped off at 30,000 due to a water well shortage. It wont take long to reach that population so it would be nice to see the town get its crap together and build more homes like this. If they do, I would be sure to move from my current home to one like this!
3tcp, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2Look at the insolation maps for north america

http://www.oksolar.com/abctech/images/world_solar_ ...

The parts I mentioned in the USA get more sun than anywhere in canada.
sadomatic, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1Cool! We need more communities like this.

www.corrupt.org
fireburner23, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1I don't mean to be an ass...but this was already mentioned a month or so ago.
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A Unique Solar Powered Community in Canada

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