Windmill Development Group recently unveiled a new sustainable infill condominium building that marries stringent green innovation with modern design and community improvement.

The Eddy is a six-storey, 57 unit condo development located in Hintonburg, a fast-growing area of downtown Ottawa. The lowrise building makes the most of limited space in a former parking lot and serves as an innovative model for how developers and community associations can work together to make intensification successful.

“Canada’s larger urban centres are embracing intensification to address population growth, optimize existing infrastructure and costs, and reduce traffic,” says Rodney Wilts, development manager for Windmill Development. “Our experience is that intensification doesn’t have to come at the expense of the community. With the Eddy, we are proving we can work within community design plans, while providing the most effective green technologies and visually appealing designs.”

“From consultation to design, Windmill’s project has helped us achieve our goals of encouraging new buildings that fit into the Wellington streetscape, and promoting an active, creative and involved community,” says the Hintonburg Community Association’s Jay Baltz. “We truly believe the Eddy and its residents will contribute to and improve our neighbourhood.”

The Eddy has innovative and sustainable features that will appeal to today’s condo buyer, including:

• Canada’s only sliding puzzle parking system, which is able to shuffle cars into underground parking spaces. The system uses 60 per cent less space and keeps emissions out of the building.
• A rooftop “small pocket park” with a patio, garden plots for residents and green space.
• One of the country’s only condo geothermal heating systems, including ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling formaldehyde free low-VOC materials.
• European-sized kitchen appliances that save energy.
• Customizable units to fit buyers’ preferences.
• Focus on promoting a biking/walking culture, with exterior and interior bike parking spots and bicycles allowed inside units.

Windmill is vying for a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification rating for the Eddy as well as for the upcoming Cathedral Hall development in Ottawa and the Union Lofts in Toronto.

The Eddy is scheduled for completion and occupancy by spring 2014.