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Michael Backs sits in his wheelchair and looks around his new home, his dog Reggie snuggled close against his chest. ZZ Top plays quietly from the portable radio on his small dining table. The apartment is tidy. The furniture clean, tasteful even.
“I’ve never been in the Lord Elgin before,” Backs says, “but it feels like the Lord Elgin in here.”
Three weeks ago, Backs was one of the first tenants to move into 1490 Clementine Blvd., a new four-story, 42-unit apartment in Heron Park run by Salus Corp., an Ottawa non-profit focused on providing supportive, affordable housing for vulnerable people
The 42-unit, four storey apartment on Clementine Blvd., is operated by Salus Corp., an Ottawa charity that provides supportive housing for people with mental illness.
Before Salus, Backs had spent seven months in a dorm at the Salvation Army on Booth Street. It was loud, tough and dangerous living. In October, Backs was there when a 30-year-old woman was fatally stabbed outside the shelter.
“That really, really scared me,” said Backs, who lost a leg a decade ago in an accident aboard the fishing boat he skippered in the Magdelan Islands. (“I woke up in hospital in Quebec City,” he says, matter of factly. “The next day, they took off my leg.)
Since returning to Ottawa after the accident, Backs has struggled, depending for years on shelters and other non-profit housing agencies.
At Salus, he says, “I feel like a royal king. … I’ve been here three weeks and this place has already changed my life.”
Founded in 1977, Salus now operates 14 buildings in the city with more than 200 units. Its 20-unit Fisher Avenue Rehabilitation Home helps reintegrate people with mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, into the community. Demand is high: 1,500 people are on the waiting list for Salus accommodation. The average wait is between five and seven years.
But beside the extraordinary stories of its tenants, 1490 Clementine Blvd. is a remarkable story on its own. It is the most energy-efficient building of its type in North America, the first commercial multi-unit residence to receive “passive house” certification — the strictest environmental construction standard in the world.
How efficient? Salus estimates the heating and cooling cost of its apartment will be about $27 a year.
“This is how affordable housing should be,” said Lisa Ker, executive director of Salus. “I mean, less than $30 heating cost per unit per year? That’s fairy dust.”
Salus resident Leslie Bird says the Salus apartment is a safer place to live than his bed at the Ottawa Mission, where he stayed before.
Construction of the $7.4-million building began in the spring of 2015 and the first tenant moved in on Thanksgiving weekend. Salus raised about $2 million in funding on its own, which was augmented by government grants, including $5 million from the City of Ottawa.
Common in Europe, the passive house concept is relatively new to North America. Using novel construction techniques and material, passive buildings can cut energy costs by as much as 90 per cent from a typical building.
“I thought my other buildings were well-insulated, but this….” said construction manager Scott Robert as he flicks the beam of an infrared thermometer from walls to window to window frame in one of the 400 square-foot bachelor apartments.
Every aspect of the building was considered in terms of energy efficiency. The bolts that secure the steel frame were padded to reduce the ‘thermal bridge” that could have let heat escape. More than 17 kilometres of tape was hand-placed to seal every joint and gap where heat could escape. The thick exterior walls are rated at R56, more than double the recommended insulation for Ottawa’s climate. Even the bottom of the bathroom doors are specially shaped to aid air circulation through each apartment.
There is no recirculated air inside. Fresh air is drawn in from outside and warmed by two, gas-powered boilers. Heat exchangers make sure that none of the warmth of the outflowing exhaust air is lost, either. A rooftop chiller will provide summer cooling, although Robert doesn’t expect it will be needed.
“Once the building reaches a temperature it’s so well insulated that it wants to stay there,” he said.
Surprisingly, all the building’s triple-glazed, argon-filled windows open, giving each tenant control of ventilation. Pets are allowed and tenants can smoke in their rooms — two important perks for many people with mental illness, Ker said.
As well, Salus staff will be on hand daily from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. to offer counselling and assist in various community activities. Although each apartment has its own complete kitchen, meals and snacks are also regularly served in the ground floor common room to foster a sense of belonging.
“A lot of these people have no ties to their community, so it’s important to try to help them establish that sense of belonging,” Ker said.
Rent at Clementine is capped at $479, the maximum allowable for shelter for a single person living on the Ontario Disability Support Pension.
Larry Ferguson lives at Salus and attends classess during the day to help him control his chronic depression.
“I’m thrilled that after a lot of planning that the building actually exists,” said Malcolm Isaacs, a director with the Canadian Passive House Institute, who served as a consultant on the building. “I think it will have an ice-breaker effect and we will see other buildings of that type being planned and executed here.”
For its tenants, however, energy efficiency isn’t as important as the sense of pride and dignity that comes with clean, safe, affordable housing.
“It’s like I’m no longer in jail,” said Larry Ferguson, 42, who moved into Clementine from his $700-a-month room in a market-rent apartment in Carlington Park. “It’s peaceful and safe.”
For Backs, it’s a home to call his own, where he can cook, tidy and do his own dishes, mundane chores that most of us take for granted.
“It’s hard to explain this place,” Backs said. “I think I have good luck to be here.
“I’m 60 years old. I’ll never have another chance like this.”
查看原文...
“I’ve never been in the Lord Elgin before,” Backs says, “but it feels like the Lord Elgin in here.”
Three weeks ago, Backs was one of the first tenants to move into 1490 Clementine Blvd., a new four-story, 42-unit apartment in Heron Park run by Salus Corp., an Ottawa non-profit focused on providing supportive, affordable housing for vulnerable people
The 42-unit, four storey apartment on Clementine Blvd., is operated by Salus Corp., an Ottawa charity that provides supportive housing for people with mental illness.
Before Salus, Backs had spent seven months in a dorm at the Salvation Army on Booth Street. It was loud, tough and dangerous living. In October, Backs was there when a 30-year-old woman was fatally stabbed outside the shelter.
“That really, really scared me,” said Backs, who lost a leg a decade ago in an accident aboard the fishing boat he skippered in the Magdelan Islands. (“I woke up in hospital in Quebec City,” he says, matter of factly. “The next day, they took off my leg.)
Since returning to Ottawa after the accident, Backs has struggled, depending for years on shelters and other non-profit housing agencies.
At Salus, he says, “I feel like a royal king. … I’ve been here three weeks and this place has already changed my life.”
Founded in 1977, Salus now operates 14 buildings in the city with more than 200 units. Its 20-unit Fisher Avenue Rehabilitation Home helps reintegrate people with mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, into the community. Demand is high: 1,500 people are on the waiting list for Salus accommodation. The average wait is between five and seven years.
But beside the extraordinary stories of its tenants, 1490 Clementine Blvd. is a remarkable story on its own. It is the most energy-efficient building of its type in North America, the first commercial multi-unit residence to receive “passive house” certification — the strictest environmental construction standard in the world.
How efficient? Salus estimates the heating and cooling cost of its apartment will be about $27 a year.
“This is how affordable housing should be,” said Lisa Ker, executive director of Salus. “I mean, less than $30 heating cost per unit per year? That’s fairy dust.”
Salus resident Leslie Bird says the Salus apartment is a safer place to live than his bed at the Ottawa Mission, where he stayed before.
Construction of the $7.4-million building began in the spring of 2015 and the first tenant moved in on Thanksgiving weekend. Salus raised about $2 million in funding on its own, which was augmented by government grants, including $5 million from the City of Ottawa.
Common in Europe, the passive house concept is relatively new to North America. Using novel construction techniques and material, passive buildings can cut energy costs by as much as 90 per cent from a typical building.
“I thought my other buildings were well-insulated, but this….” said construction manager Scott Robert as he flicks the beam of an infrared thermometer from walls to window to window frame in one of the 400 square-foot bachelor apartments.
Every aspect of the building was considered in terms of energy efficiency. The bolts that secure the steel frame were padded to reduce the ‘thermal bridge” that could have let heat escape. More than 17 kilometres of tape was hand-placed to seal every joint and gap where heat could escape. The thick exterior walls are rated at R56, more than double the recommended insulation for Ottawa’s climate. Even the bottom of the bathroom doors are specially shaped to aid air circulation through each apartment.
There is no recirculated air inside. Fresh air is drawn in from outside and warmed by two, gas-powered boilers. Heat exchangers make sure that none of the warmth of the outflowing exhaust air is lost, either. A rooftop chiller will provide summer cooling, although Robert doesn’t expect it will be needed.
“Once the building reaches a temperature it’s so well insulated that it wants to stay there,” he said.
Surprisingly, all the building’s triple-glazed, argon-filled windows open, giving each tenant control of ventilation. Pets are allowed and tenants can smoke in their rooms — two important perks for many people with mental illness, Ker said.
As well, Salus staff will be on hand daily from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. to offer counselling and assist in various community activities. Although each apartment has its own complete kitchen, meals and snacks are also regularly served in the ground floor common room to foster a sense of belonging.
“A lot of these people have no ties to their community, so it’s important to try to help them establish that sense of belonging,” Ker said.
Rent at Clementine is capped at $479, the maximum allowable for shelter for a single person living on the Ontario Disability Support Pension.
Larry Ferguson lives at Salus and attends classess during the day to help him control his chronic depression.
“I’m thrilled that after a lot of planning that the building actually exists,” said Malcolm Isaacs, a director with the Canadian Passive House Institute, who served as a consultant on the building. “I think it will have an ice-breaker effect and we will see other buildings of that type being planned and executed here.”
For its tenants, however, energy efficiency isn’t as important as the sense of pride and dignity that comes with clean, safe, affordable housing.
“It’s like I’m no longer in jail,” said Larry Ferguson, 42, who moved into Clementine from his $700-a-month room in a market-rent apartment in Carlington Park. “It’s peaceful and safe.”
For Backs, it’s a home to call his own, where he can cook, tidy and do his own dishes, mundane chores that most of us take for granted.
“It’s hard to explain this place,” Backs said. “I think I have good luck to be here.
“I’m 60 years old. I’ll never have another chance like this.”
查看原文...
