Senior's Housing Project nears completion

Jeff Green | Mar 03, 2011

Photo: David Buckley and Cam Allen inf front the the new seniors housing project.

A construction project that has seen its share of controversy will be home for five individual seniors or couples later this spring.

Construction crews started work on the project early last fall, after the Central Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing Corporation had to wait about 15 months for the project to work its way through the administrative hoops that were required because of zoning issues.

These included an Ontario Municipal Board hearing challenging the zoning bylaw and Official Plan amendments that were approved by Central Frontenac Township for the project, and an organized public opposition campaign that characterized the building as a seniors’ home located deep “in the forest”.

Cam Allen of the All-Tech Construction Group has a different way of characterizing the project. He calls it the “the first Greenhouse Certified townhouse project in Canada. And it is right here in Frontenac County.”

Greenhouse Certification is a new construction industry standard that has been developed by the Ener-quality Group. It is similar in a number of ways to the LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] building standards that were developed a couple of years ago, but does not require the builder to pay certification fees, as LEED does.

The project has been used as a sort of demonstration project for the All-Tech Construction Management Group, which in addition to Cam Allen, includes Buckley Construction, Frontenac Roofing, and Phase 1 Electric.

“In terms of water use, energy efficiency, use of materials - even the recycling of construction waste - we are only interested in green building practices,” said Allen.

Not all of the practices add expense to a project. The Clement Road townhouse project is oriented so as to maximize passive solar capture for heat and light, and has an overhang on the south of the building for cooling in the summer.

It is also built to a high air-tight standard and has enhanced insulation properties to keep heating costs low.

The project includes a number of other environmental features. Some are deceptively simple, such as the inclusion of three small sun domes in each unit for added light in darker areas, reducing the need for artificial light. There is also a shut-off switch in the main room of each unit that will enable tenants to cut the power to some, but not all, of the electrical outlets in the room. This will make it easy to shut off the power to appliances, such as TV and stereo units, which use up power even when they are off, and to leave others, such as alarm clocks, running all the time,

The building also includes a six-panel thermal solar system that will provide a solar “top up” for the water heating system, and will cover about 50-70% of the complex's hot water needs. In-floor heating is another feature of the construction.

The plumbing and appliances were all purchased with energy efficiency and safety issues for seniors in mind.

David Buckley, of Buckley Construction out of Inverary, is one of the All-Tech partners. He said that it is important for him to walk away from a project like this with a sense of pride.

“You can do things quickly, but in the end it's better to do things right,” he said.

“I'm extremely pleased with the way the construction has been completed. I think the units will be well used by the tenants and the efficiency of the building will really pay off,” said Jane Drew, the director of the housing corporation.

An Open House will be held at the seniors’ townhouse project, which is located at 1096 Clement Road, on Friday, March 4 between 1 and 5 pm, and Saturday, March 5 between 10 am and 3 pm.

The rent is geared to income and units will be available for the price of $625 per month inclusive, for families with an income under $30,000 per year.

(Jeff Green is the Publisher of the Frontenac News. He is also a volunteer board member for Central Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing)