Affordable housing pilot to test sustainable construction methods
LONDON: A pilot is underway to test sustainable low cost construction methods for multigenerational homes.
Vancouver is looking to test new ways of delivering affordable housing.
The city and its partners are currently working on an affordable rental housing pilot project that aims to help BC Housing evaluate innovative building materials and designs to tackling affordability, inclusion and climate change.
The project, called Vienna House, is in the initial design phase. It will be proposed as a six-storey building with approximately 100 units at the intersection of Victoria Drive and Stainsbury Avenue in East Vancouver. The project is a partnership between BC Housing, the City of Vancouver, through the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, and More Than a Roof Housing Society.
“In responding to our housing crisis and the climate crisis, there’s lots of work to do,” said David Eby, housing minister, in a statement. “Vienna House is part of how we are taking action. Responding to the housing crisis with 100 units and the climate crisis with high energy efficiency, this project will allow BC Housing to test different approaches to prefabrication, Building Information Modeling and integrated design. Our goal remains building affordable, healthy and sustainable homes quickly and efficiently and Vienna House will be part of the solution.”
Vienna House will utilize innovative materials and processes designed to deliver high-energy performance with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This includes experimenting with prefabricated building components made from renewable materials and an integrated design process that brings all partners together at regular intervals to solve project challenges and increase efficiency.
An application for rezoning is expected to be submitted this summer.
If approved, the project would attempt to meet Passive House standards and be ready for its tenants in late 2023, at which point ownership and management would be transferred to the More Than a Roof Housing Society.
The Urban Innovation Research Group at the University of British Columbia’s Sustainability Initiative would study Vienna House from start to finish to collect data on construction best practices and policy development.
The Vienna House project is also the signature piece of a collaboration between the City of Vancouver and the City of Vienna, Austria, to explore new materials and approaches to building affordable housing. A similar project, called Vancouver House, will be built in Austria while Vienna House is underway.
