The City of Toronto today acknowledged the Grange condo as the first multi-residential building to meet its new guidelines for backup power, Magnolia Generation reported in a press release.
The voluntary standards call for sustained occupancy, or the ability for multi-residential buildings residents to comfortably stay put for up to three days when the power gets knocked out for a period of time, as in the 2013 ice storm. That compares with minimum life-safety requirements for emergency power, which are designed primarily to evacuate residents. For example, minimum life-safety requirements mandate that one elevator be backed up with emergency power for firefighter use, whereas the new guidelines recommend that at least one other elevator be backed up for resident use.
“With more and more Torontonians living in tall buildings, and more frequent and severe climate events expected, improving backup power in multi-unit residential buildings serves to strengthen the city’s overall resilience by allowing people to remain in the buildings during prolonged power outages,” Fernando Carou, senior engineer for the City’s community energy planning, said in the press release.
The Grange achieved sustained occupancy by switching to a Combined Heat and emergency Power (CHeP) system when its backup generator reached the end of its service life. Designed and built by Magnolia Generation, the solution satisfies most of the day-to-day energy needs of the building, while producing four fewer tonnes of greenhouse gasses per year, using natural gas-powered turbines.
The Grange avoided upfront capital costs through an agreement with that will see the condo pay the going rate for gas and electricity for the next two decades as Magnolia Generation owns, operates and maintains the CHeP system to supply the condo with energy. An incentive under the Ontario Long Term Energy Plan designed to encourage uptake of CHeP is set to expire on July 1, 2018.
Magnolia Generation developed the solution for the Grange in collaboration with its management services provider, Crossbridge Condominium Services (formerly known as Brookfield).
“Magnolia Generation came to us several years ago proposing to introduce co-generation into condominiums,” Rob Detta Colli, manager of energy and sustainability for Crossbridge Condominium Services, said in the press release. “They leveraged our knowledge of the industry, and worked to create a product that is now setting a new standard for the multi-unit residential segment in Ontario.”
Others are following the Grange’s cue, with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation due to adopt a CHeP system, currently in design by Magnolia Generation, at one of its buildings.
