Toronto students design net-zero energy home
Project falls in line with work to implement laneway housing solutions in the city
Graduate students from Ryerson and the University of Toronto are joining a push to increase housing density in Toronto by introducing a net-zero energy, laneway home design.
A team of 15 students represented Canada this year and won the grand prize at a U.S. Department of Energy home-design event, a competition that spurs university students to design sustainable buildings.
“What made LaneZero unique is that it hit a bunch of birds with one stone,” said Hayley Cormick, who is studying building science at Ryerson. “One of those is urban density in Toronto . . . and our house produces as much energy as it consumes.”
The city’s housing crunch impacts young people the most, which could explain the students’ efforts, Councillor Ana Bailao said.
“They would love to live in parts of the city and can’t buy,” she said. “They’re even having a tough time finding an apartment they can rent. This is why they’re putting their hearts and minds into helping us find solutions, and we need to partner with them and understand their anxiety.”
One of the problems is that strict zoning bylaws stymie construction, said Matthew Ferguson, an architecture student at Ryerson.
“We would have to go through lots of hoops and expenses working with city council to get this approved,” he said. “Right now the city doesn’t have a way to approve laneway houses that’s standardized.”
The student project, dubbed LaneZero, hasn’t been built yet, but a site near Christie Pits has been selected.
The two-storey, 950-square-foot model would utilize existing infrastructure to preserve neighbourhood character; south-facing windows enable passive solar heating; a roof covered with integrated solar cells generate electricity. The building is relatively “airtight” to increase the unit’s overall efficiency, Ryerson mechanical engineering student Brandon Wilbur said.
Craig Race, co-founder of Lanescape, an urban design and planning group, mentored the students for the competition. Laneway housing is impossible to build because there is no planning framework around it, he said.
Lanescape and Evergreen, a charity working to establish sustainable building methods, released a report in May that targets policies preventing the development of laneway units.
“Laneway suites,” ancillary units attached to principal residences, as described in the report, were introduced as a way to work within provincial legislation introduced in 2011 that seeks to increase Toronto’s housing stock. The concept passed full council last week.
“We’re hoping for a report back in the first quarter of 2018,” Bailao said.
Laneway suites have the potential to make housing affordable and allows for multi-generational dwellings, among other benefits, Race said.
“By allowing laneway suites, we’re adding another tool in the tool box of housing flexibility,” he said.