CCOC Affordable and Sustainable Housing Development on 424 Metcalfe Street

The City of Ottawa will partner with the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation (CCOC) to assess the feasibility of redeveloping a vacant brownfield site into affordable rental housing, incorporating many key aspects of sustainable design. The design will comply with the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program and will meet, as a minimum, LEED Silver guidelines for sustainability in areas such as energy efficiency, green roofs, renewable energy and building materials. The team will prioritize a list of design options based on cost-effectiveness and environmental performance. It will also determine the potential to incorporate heritage elements into the design and endeavour to proceed in the context of sustainable community planning. Ongoing meetings between the design team, community stakeholders and the public will ensure the project integrates well with the surrounding community. Simulations will assess the viability of important design options. The team will also investigate the potential for partnering with neighbouring institutions to develop an integrated energy system. The implemented capital project, likely involving 94 rental units, will produce half the CO2 emissions of a conventional building. Its demand for potable water and sewage services will also be reduced by at least 30 per cent. The existing brownfield site will be remediated to provincial standards.