Westmount couple building net-zero laneway home

Posted by Justin Havre on Saturday, March 12th, 2016 at 12:52pm.

There are two important aspects to the small home under construction in the North West Edmonton community of Westmount. The first is the fact that this cottage is the city’s first officially-recognized lane-way home.  At 638 square feet, this two-bedroom abode is atop a large two-car garage behind the home on a quiet, Westmount street. 

Supervising the job are owners Karly Coleman and Andreas Hengst, who employed Carbon Busters, an Edmonton consulting firm, to design the small building. The couple has a keen interest in green energy systems are determined to build a home that produces the same amount of energy as it consumers, otherwise known as a net-zero home. The green energy system includes solar panels on the roof, to capture solar energy stored in batteries.   There is thermal storage for energy captured from recycled hot water, an air-to-water heat pump and enhanced R-rated insulation in the walls.  Windows are triple-glazed. 

Downstairs in the garage, there is a suitable 220 amp plug-in for an electric car. The couple is committed to vastly reducing their carbon footprint in Edmonton, beginning with this little home which is 100% powered by renewable sources of energy.  Coleman is a dedicated bike rider and advocate of bicycle lanes in Edmonton.  Her spouse is professionally involved in solar energy and together, the couple lives what they preach.

In 2015, the City of Edmonton relaxed zoning bylaws to make provision for adding density with laneway homes.  Like this net-zero home, laneway homes are built on the back half of a city lot and the entrance to the home faces the alley.  They are usually smaller than the primary residence and are very popular in old and new communities alike, particularly in metropolitan areas where lot values are rising and homes closer to the core becoming out of reach for many home buyers.  One of the approaches taken by the City of Edmonton in changing zoning in certain communities is an attempt to moderate housing prices in the city and to reduce municipal infrastructure costs, such as transit, waste management and energy costs.

The laneway home concept is very big in Vancouver and now, throughout Western Canada where urban sprawl has come with its own set of challenges, municipalities trying to become more dense are embracing this type of housing.  Concerns about this style range from lack of privacy, losing the family-feel of residential communities, fire safety with buildings being so close together and loss of second-storey views.

However, even the mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, commented to local media that the couple’s Westmount home is an excellent example of both a laneway home and a net-zero home, providing inspiration to others who also want to live in a greener space.

The completion of the home is just the first step.  It will take a while for the home and its net-zero systems to start paying for themselves.  According to Carbon Busters, it costs $50,000 more to construct a laneway home with net-zero capability than a normal home and in all honestly it will take 15 years for the savings to be realized by the owners.

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