Eco-Solar Tour of
Energy Efficient Buildings
28-31 May & 3-6 Jun

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   Sponsored by

Tours of Energy Efficient Buildings

Here is a map to this year's building tour

Bookmark this tiny mobile list of all the buildings.

NEW - Register for a webinar at Alberta Municipal Place on May 28th

Eco-Solar Tours at a glance

Sat 25 May Strathcona Market 8 to 3 pm	Sun 26 May	Mon 27 May	Tue 28 May Bldg Tour AMP noon to 4	Wed 29 May Bldg Tour Brentwood noon to 4	Thu 30 May Bldg Tour Manasc noon to 4	Fri 31 May Bldg Tour Steppes noon to 4
Sat 1 Jun Home Tour 12 Homes noon to 4	Sun 2 Jun Solar Sun Day	Mon 3 Jun Bldg Tour NAIT noon to 4	Tue 4 Jun Bldg Tour Animal noon to 4	Wed 5 Jun Bldg Tour Landmark noon to 4	Thu 6 Jun Bldg Tour Alfred noon to 4	Fri 7 Jun

On this page is the list of buildings that have lined up for this year's tour. What a great lineup!

The Alberta Municipal Place building is the home of the AUMA. They have recently completed a major renovation that has included a number of features. At this site you will be able to see details of the renovation as well as a wind turbine, solar electric system, LED lighting, and a combined heat/power generating unit. This upgrade reduced the energy usage in this building by over 50%.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is the AMSC website.

This Net-Zero Energy Ready (NZER) apartment building is located in an existing affordable housing community. Starting with a well insulated, air-tight envelope complete with large triple-glazed south facing windows, passive solar gains are maximized and heat loss is minimized. A geothermal system heats the 29 apartments while flat plate solar thermal collectors provide domestic hot water heating. Excess hot water in the summer is circulated through the geothermal bore field to improve the efficiency of the geothermal system. The grid-tied solar PV system, including some modules mounted on the south balconies that provide shading from the hot summer sun, offsets the yearly energy. Once the full complement of solar modules is completed this building should achieve Net-Zero-Energy (NZE) status.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is Brentwood's website.

The building is a retrofit of an older building with solar sun shades. The solar sun shades have generated over 8000 kwh since May 2011. The sun shades are rated at 11.28kw and generate about 10% of the building's energy needs. Not only do the panels generate energy for the building, but because of the angle at which they were installed, they also help to keep the building cool in the summer. This year's addition is a rooftop garden where staff raise vegetables for their own use.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is the Manasc Isaac website.

The Steppes Business Campus is located south of Ellerslie Road adjacent to the Summerside residential lake community. The complex includes approximately 75,000 square feet of office space in 2 buildings developed on a 3 acre site. The site includes extensive green spaces, terraces and water features. The buildings share a common base heating and cooling system, but have independent fresh air supply systems. The buildings are heated and cooled with water-to-air zone based heat pumps that use a hybrid geothermal and low temperature boiler source water supply. The design has resulted in one of the lowest operating costs per unit area of any office building in the region.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is Building Services' website.

Come and see the NAIT alternative energy technologies lab on both Sunday and Monday during the Eco-Solar Building tour. The lab features hands-on demonstrations of most energy efficiency technologies including solar electic, solar thermal, wind, geothermal, and micro hydro. You can also explore the more exotic fuel cells, micro-flywheel, biogas generation, cogeneration, and various energy storage technologies. See the video of the lab here. Are you interested in becoming a student or do you have some questions for the experts on hand? If so then come to NAIT on Sun Day or Monday to "catch a few rays."

For further details download the site sheet. Please check these maps for the location of free tour parking on Sunday and Monday. Check out the details of the Alternative Energy Technology program on the NAIT website.

The new Animal Care Centre in NW Edmonton is designed to meet a LEED Silver rating. The Centre has geothermal heating and cooling, uses natural lighting, and has extensive landscaping including areas for animal exercise, water efficient plants, and two on-site ponds. Storm water run-off goes to the two ponds which are designed to dramatically reduce the requirement to release water into the City drainage system. In-slab heating and cooling keeps the animals comfortable while preventing the transfer of airborne particulates between kennels. See a video about the centre here.

For further details download the site sheet. The AMCC website.

Landmark Group has committed to building all Net Zero homes by 2015. In order to achieve that goal they have had to develop a method to dramatically reduce the cost of building a house. Their factory in SE Edmonton features the Landmark Precision Building System. This computer controlled, automated building system produces sections of a home ready to assemble on site. This building method reduces waste by over 50% and results in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissons of over 6 tonnes per home.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is Landmark's website.

This new ammenities building in Whitemud park features geothermal heating, natural daylighting and an on-site waste water treatement system. The main purpose of this building is washrooms and change rooms for the park but there are also rooms for some programmed activities. The choice of on-site waste water treatment is unusual in the City but it avoided adding additional sewer lines through the local forest.

For further details download the site sheet. Here is the webpage for the Alfred Savage Centre.