Overlooking the horizon in Palm Springs, California, you would think that finding solar power for a residential real estate project wouldn’t be an issue.

But Kevin Lesowski, asset coordinator at Gatehouse Design and Developments, based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and his team faced exactly that with their project in the California city of La Quinta. This experience highlights the need for alternative energy solutions in housing, both here in Canada and south of the border.

No power available, $20 million price tag for substation upgrade

An average home requires about 200 amps of electricity to be fully functional, yet, after about a year of dealing with the Imperial Irrigation District, the organization that deals with energy service in the area, they were told that there was no power — period. 

“Power was always known as an issue in the area, but it definitely caught us by surprise,” admitted Lesowski.

Gatehouse, along with other developers in the surrounding Palm Springs area, were advised that they’d need to upgrade a substation to service the homes, at a price tag of $20 million. 

Creating a smaller project of 34 single-family homes, the team at Gatehouse knew that it would take some unorthodox thinking to solve this problem.

A solution: Solar panels linked to batteries add power to communal grid

A year after they were given the condition, while also working alongside a consortium of developers in the surrounding area, Lesowski found a third-party company called Block Energy that specializes in creating residential micro-grid communities.

“They have solar panels on the roof that go into batteries in the garages,” he explains. “Then the whole community is linked on a communal grid — once the batteries in the garage are full, they dump power into a community battery bank.”

Vancouver: Environmentally sustainable project turning profits for residents — too good to be true?

While Vancouver may not get as much sunlight as our southern California counterparts, that didn’t stop Graham Carter, co-founder of Vertex Developments, from also exploring alternative energy solutions that would work for development projects in B.C.

For Carter, this led to more research into geothermal energy: in essence, energy derived from the Earth’s crust.

“If you could have a little utility running into your building, like a geothermal system, potentially there’s an income stream for the strata corporation long-term,” says Carter.

An environmentally sustainable real estate development project that could also actually make money for its future residents? Sounds too good to be true. And as Carter and his team discovered, it was.

“What we found with everything we looked at is (it) was cost prohibitive, especially in Vancouver with the cost of building buildings. We can’t be competitive and add an extra ‘nice to have’,” he shares.

Actual and hidden costs: A huge factor all around

Carlos Gamez Ruiz, associate partner at Berry Architecture, while now based in Kelowna, B.C., previously lived and worked in Alberta. From his experience, cost also appears to be a significant factor for clients deciding on energy options for their projects.

“Either here in B.C. or in Alberta is the same situation — the cost. Also, what (will) be the hidden costs that are required to have that system in place?” Ruiz adds. “In terms of investments, talking about multi-residential types of dwelling units, we always try to see if the investment makes sense.”

Alberta: Wind energy being explored

Wind energy is currently being explored in parts of Alberta, in large part due to the topography of the region that suits this option well.

“They’re trying to make the most of the open scenarios, as there are quite a few areas there where the land is pretty flat,” notes Ruiz. “So you open the opportunity for higher winds more. In Medicine Hat, (there’s) a wind farm that they’re trying to bring on as an alternative energy solution for communities back in Red Deer.” (Medicine Hat is about 410 kilometres southeast of Red Deer.)

Bioenergy: More research & education needed for long-term traction

Another alternative energy source that could potentially garner more attention in the future? Bioenergy.

“Garbage generates some gasses,” explains Ruiz. “And they take those types of gasses to generate energy in a clean way.”

Bioenergy can be produced from multiple renewable, biological sources such as by-products from industrial forest processes or construction and demolition waste. But according to Ruiz, for this energy source to gain more traction as a long-term viable option, more research and education are needed.

Discovering, studying and eventually implementing alternative energy solutions into residential real estate projects will not be an easy task or overnight success. But despite the challenges Lesowski faced in Palm Springs, he’s optimistic about the potential for Canada’s future development landscape.

“It’s really, really great to be on the crest of that pioneering wave,” he adds. ”I think that our project aside, just the fact that everything is changing is super cool.”