Article content continued

The environmentally sustainable neighbourhood has required perseverance from several city councils, Iveson said.

“We can achieve a net-zero community. We’re showing that it can be done.”

While energy-efficient homes like the ones about to be built might be niche now, interest in sustainable living is catching on, said Vic Mutti, manager of Mutti Homes, the first homebuilder to break ground in the area.

“This will be the norm, in the future,” said Mutti. The company has sold four of eight townhomes, and purchased another parcel of land in the area that will include another nine townhomes.

Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia

Iveson countered questions about the project’s timeline, noting that it was deliberate, and the housing market has been “soft.”

“We took our time to get the energy system right. But really, there were planes landing here six years ago, and here we are today.”

Energy Centre One is the beginning of that energy system, the first of five or six similar energy centres in the neighbourhood. This particular facility will pump water for heating, cooling, and hot water into homes through a district energy sharing system that transfers energy between buildings and can save energy seasonally.

“Heat is transferred from the ground into the community, or the other way around, and it does it in a very energy-efficient way,” said Christian Felske, the city’s director of renewable energy utilities. The energy centre, which cost $19.4 million to design and build, won’t generate electricity.

He said he hopes the Blatchford project gives people hope that the technology and the solutions to tackle climate change are here, and that people continue to call for bold leadership from all orders of government.

“My message to young people raising the urgency of the climate issue is: thank you for being persistent. (This community) is very tangible evidence of our city’s commitment to real action around climate change,” said Iveson.

lijohnson@postmedia.com

twitter.com/reportrix