Energy efficient and affordable project in Quebec | “You have to be crazy to do what you do”

In Quebec, social housing of incredible quality, with minimal impact on the environment, is created by a passionate team. The Albédo, under construction in Sainte-Foy, illustrates its efforts to design comfortable living environments while integrating numerous innovations, in order to serve as a model in the fight against climate change.

“You have to be crazy to do what you do,” admits Rejean Boilard, general coordinator of the Action-Habitation organization. We’re a small, unknown gang that works practically undersea in Quebec, that does social housing and that manages to do something exceptional. With each project, we ask ourselves how far we will go to fight climate change and what equipment we can integrate. It’s never easy, because you have to look for funding in four, five, six different places. It’s complicated, but we have an obligation to do it. »

Albédo, which took 14 years to materialize, is part of the community organization La Bouée. Action-Habitation is supporting him in carrying out his project and will manage the management of the complex, which will require little maintenance thanks to the choice of sustainable materials.

From the start, the team sought to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the 12-story building, which will include 128 senior housing units and a 150-space daycare. The building has the immense advantage of being located next to the Intact Assurance Ice Center, equipped with an advanced centralized refrigeration system that cools the five rinks.

“The Ice Center system recovers part of the heat emitted, but also rejects it outside,” explains Claude Routhier, special projects advisor at Poly-Énergie/Génécor expert-conseils. We will therefore recover this thermal energy, thanks to a great agreement between the City of Quebec and Action-Habitation. »

A geothermal system will provide heating and cooling for the building. A heat pump ensuring the production of hot water will come into operation when there is heat recovery at the sports complex or when the Albédo is in air conditioning mode.

“Thanks to the geothermal system, the heat will not go into the ambient environment around the building when we air-condition it,” adds engineer Denis Boyer, of Écohabitation. The heat will return to the ground. »

“An intelligent electrical entrance will be able to manage several sources of electricity,” explains Mr. Routhier. Every day, an electric battery will prevent peak consumption in the building. »

The future is in the details

The desire to adapt to climate change is at the heart of the reflection. “The goal is not only to reduce the impact of the building on the environment,” says Mr. Boyer. We must also ensure that the occupants will not suffer. In an RPA, people are a little more fragile. We must be able to maintain an indoor climate that allows us to survive breakdowns and heat waves, as we will experience more and more. »

Like all buildings supported by Action-Habitation, Albédo will seek to obtain ISP (Passive Solar Index) recognition, delivered by Écohabitation. “It’s not much more expensive and we obtain enormous energy efficiency gains,” says Rejean Boilard. We are also moving towards zero carbon certification for almost all of our projects. »

To achieve this, the architecture was also taken care of. “A building envelope that is not very good would waste energy,” emphasizes Élodie Simard, of the Lafond Côté Architectes agency. For example, we have exterior insulation to cut thermal bridges. The insulation, rock wool, is seven inches thick, which is enormous. »

Sunshine simulations guided the length of the balconies so that they act as sunshades. “We maximized the shading created on the windows below, at critical times of the year, to avoid overheating,” she explains. Perforated aluminum panels, installed vertically, will also create shading in the living spaces while bringing dynamism to the facade. This creates an interesting design, as well as adding to the comfort. »

Aluminum was chosen as cladding because it is a local product, durable, does not require maintenance and is quick to install. Thanks to financial support from the Société d’habitation du Québec, Francis Fortin, also from the Lafond Côté Architectes agency, worked for three years to develop the type of aluminum panel that will cover the 12 floors. Very thin (0.8 mm thick), it has passed all the tests to which it has been subjected. It will be curved during installation, in most places, in order to have optimal resistance against the wind. “We chose anodizing, a more ecological process, in champagne color,” explains the architect. There is a good chance that there will be slight variations in color throughout and we are comfortable with that. »

As Rejean Boilard summarizes, “the team is committed to real environmental values. And that doesn’t pollute.”

In a first version of this article, we presented Claude Routhier as an engineer. Rather, he is an advisor on special projects at Poly-Énergie/Génécor expert-conseils. Our apologies.