When faced with having to dig up the pavement in our parking areas at Parkway Park to replace broken underground wiring, we pivoted to install solar lights and were able to keep our paved lots intact, minimize disruption to our residents, and bring a renewable source into our energy mix. Due to this successful test project, we expanded installation to the Forest Ridge properties.
With the help of our partner, MicroHabitat, we turned an unused portion of our roof at Appartements VIE in Montreal into a thriving urban garden, helping to reconnect people to nature. The 300-pound seasonal harvest was donated on a weekly basis to our community partner, Chez Doris, to support their daily meal program.
We added a micro cogeneration unit to our Ottawa community, LIV, which produces heat and electrical power simultaneously through high efficiency heat and power generation. At LIV, this translates to a 17% offset in electrical consumption from the grid and a 20% reduction in domestic hot water production from boilers, leading to $25,000 in annual savings.
We are currently testing this at communities in Montreal, Ottawa, and Burlington to solve the problem of package deliveries piling up in lobbies. Through this system, parcel couriers are provided with timed access to a secure package/lockers room and residents are notified electronically that a package is waiting for pick-up, thus providing a convenient, secure and organized package delivery system for our resident base.
We partnered with Enbridge Gas to install building automation system (BAS) upgrades at our Lakeshore Club community in Burlington. The project generates 38,200m3 in annual natural gas savings, a 40% reduction from pre-project levels, leading to cost savings and enhanced building operational control for our
facilities team, while ensuring continued resident comfort.
We installed this well to tap into ground water for our lawn irrigation and to water plants and flowers around the community rather than pulling from the municipal water supply. The project generates financial savings of about $15,000 each year and we estimate annual water savings of 2,670m3 – the equivalent of one Olympic sized swimming pool.
We are proud supporters of electric vehicles, which have proven to help reduce GHG emissions and pollution. In 2022, InterRent had 31 onsite EV charging stations at 16 of our bigger communities, making EV charging accessible to 20% of our total suites.
We will continue to expand EV charging coverage at our buildings in the coming years to encourage our residents to embrace electric transportation and reduce their carbon footprint.
Building Certification is an example of our commitment to green building practices and environmental stewardship. InterRent is pursuing the Canadian Certified Rental Building Program (CRB) and have established an agreement as at the end of 2022. We are actively working towards getting our first group of buildings certified in 2023.
Through acquisition, we now own and manage a LEED® Gold certified building located in Vancouver.
In 2020, we installed Building Automation System (BAS) at five of our communities in Stoney Creek. Encouraged with the results, we further implemented BAS systems in 39 buildings last year, which included adding outdoor air reset to boilers, reducing supply and return water temperatures and more, bringing our total number of buildings with BAS to 44 and covering 28% of our total suites. In 2023, BAS will remain a key focus of our operational efforts as it enables us to leverage technology to achieve cost savings, enhance resident comfort, and gain smarter operational control for our facilities team.
We continued to implement the state-of-the-art 1Valet Smart Building Platform across our communities. In 2022, we deployed the system in 40 of our buildings, bringing the total to 48 and covering over 30% of our portfolio. This platform incorporates advanced technology solutions such as Automated Entry System and Integration with 3rd party
devices such as Parcel Lockers that enhance security and streamline communication within our buildings, enabling us to improve operational efficiencies and enhance the safety and convenience for our residents.
In 2022, we piloted an organic waste collection program at three of our buildings in the greater Montreal area as part of our commitment to sustainable and responsible waste management. Organic waste at these locations is separated and collected, transported to local composting facilities, where they turn into nutrient-rich compost that benefits our ecosystem. We plan to expand the organic waste collection program to a total of 19 communities in the Greater Montreal Area by the end of this summer, while the program is already accessible to all our communities in Vancouver.
* In 2020, energy consumption reflects data for which InterRent received and paid bills and excluded any resident accounts that were separately metered. In 2021, data coverage improved as we moved closer toward collecting whole-building data.
1 In 2020, emissions reflect data for which InterRent received and paid bills and excluded any resident accounts that were separately metered. In 2021, data coverage improved as we moved closer toward collecting whole-building data.
