PRACTICAL GREEN LIVING
Groundbreaking has both literal and figurative meanings when talking about The Hills at Charlesworth.
Of course, there’s the traditional meaning. The community in southeast Edmonton has broken ground and is moving forward with a 160acre residential development that could see more than 1,000 families living there once it’s fully built out over the next seven to eight years. But the housing development by Beaverbrook Communities is also groundbreaking by boldly going where few local residential communities have gone before: putting sustainability and innovation front and centre.
“For us it’s about challenging the status quo,” said Jesse LaFrance, project manager of The Hills at Charlesworth. “We want to provide green living to residents in an affordable and practical manner.”
Sustainability at The Hills at Charlesworth starts with the Sustainability Plaza, what LaFrance likes to call an “uncommon common area.” This central focal point, attached to a larger park space, anchors The Hills and promotes progressive green living concepts. Its eye-catching repurposed sea can containers, painted in bright enticing colours, serve double duty.
Not only do the containers provide shelter from the elements, they also offer unexpected benefits. One container is equipped with free solar-powered Wi-Fi — solar panels on the roof direct energy back to the grid to power Shaw’s Go Wi-Fi. The other container will be the future home of energy-generating fitness equipment, allowing residents to produce renewable energy to charge their mobile devices while exercising inside a repurposed sea can container.
The Sustainability Plaza also includes wind-solar hybrid lighting that isn’t hooked up to the electrical grid, as well as rain gardens that will help plants grow by allowing water to soak into the ground instead of going into storm drains. Residents also enjoy a community garden for fruits and vegetables, a solar-powered playground, and a four-season trail that will be transformed into a skating surface in winter.
But sustainability in The Hills is not limited to the plaza. Homes are built to a baseline level that includes energy efficiency, water saving and cleaner air features. Building materials are also held to higher standards, with requirements for certain amounts of recycled content, and builders must participate in a municipal construction waste management program requiring a landfill diversion rate of 50 per cent or more.
Buyers also have the option to achieve higher green home levels with a variety of additional sustainability features, ranging from incorporating domestic wood from reused or recovered or re-milled sources for all cabinets, to advanced framing work, or incorporating higher energy efficient features to achieve a diamond-level rating.
“As a leader in the development industry within the Edmonton Capital Region, Beaverbrook’s goal is to embrace these attitudes — low-impact development incorporating greener elements at both the neighbourhood and site level — and to develop a neighbourhood that serves as a case study for sustainable development in Edmonton,” said LaFrance.
“A new neighbourhood that provides this array of greener choices and options for residents will be a test of the marketplace and a challenge for our team to bring forward innovation, maintain practicality, and at the same time provide affordability to buyers.”
GRAND OPENING
“The Hills at Charlesworth is not what the future looks like, it is now” said George Cantalini, Beaverbrook president, noting that Edmontonians will be able to get a first-hand look at The Hills’ grand opening event on Saturday, June 25.
The grand opening will feature a number of family-friendly activities, allowing visitors a chance to learn about The Hills’ solar Wi-Fi, solar panels and more.
The event will be attended by celebrity building expert Mike Holmes, as well as Edmonton mayor Don Iveson. While the grand opening runs from noon to 5 p.m. on June 25, Holmes will be there from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
“Beaverbrook, along with Mike Holmes, is big on challenging the status quo and shifting the paradigm to sustainable building practices,” said LaFrance. “He will be part of our grand opening and be showing his support for this new southeast community.”
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
The area might look familiar to some people, as The Hills is actually being built on what was once the Pioneer Meadows golf course. However, the green space will not disappear completely. In addition to the Sustainability Plaza and park, an environmental reserve and a protected natural treed area remain.
Homes in The Hills feature traditional architecture with modern touches. Exteriors will be finished in strong, dark colours with contrasting trim, and are being built by the following builders: Alquinn Homes, Bedrock Homes, Dolce Vita Homes and Jayman Built Homes. Bedrock and Dolce Vita offer single family, duplex and townhomes, while Aquinn and Jayman are building rear-lane single family, duplex and townhomes.
Half-a-dozen residents took occupancy this past spring and another 30 families are expected to move in this fall. Housing prices start around $350,000 and reach up to $800,000.
One thing that potential residents will find different at The Hills is the mixed streetscape concept. As opposed to a typical subdivision where single-family homes are grouped together, with duplexes in another portion and townhouses clustered elsewhere, that will not be the case at The Hills. Mixed streetscapes will incorporate single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes integrated alongside each other.
“It’s a thoughtful blend of various housing types all unified through common design elements,” said LaFrance.
“It allows for families to purchase their first home and live within the community for their entire home cycle, and move up to another housing type as their family matures whilst living on the same street.”