Innovation strikes again with completion of s2e’s FCM/GMF report for smart community development across Canada

Innovation strikes again with completion of s2e’s FCM/GMF report for smart community development across Canada

Oct 31, 2022 | Development, EVE Park, Net-Zero Energy, West 5

Canadian sustainable leaders announce solution to facilitate net-zero communities throughout cities

During this Earth Day season, we are celebrating leadership that truly makes an impact that is measureable.

On March 29, a remarkable event took place in West 5 (London, ON) with Canada’s global energy innovators, S2E Technologies Inc. and Sifton Properties where they seized an exciting moment for Canadian cities. Derek Satnik, VP of Technology, Smart Communities at S2E Technologies Inc. and principal investigator for the “FCM/GMF Feasibility Study: Municipal Tools for Catalyzing Net-Zero Energy Development”, hosted the event announcing the completion of the study. The report outlines what a municipality can reasonably do to motivate and enable builders to construct net-zero energy developments in communities across Canada.

The event began with 30 mins of speeches from the major stakeholders including Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener; Milfred Hammerbacher, CEO of S2e Technologies Inc., and Richard Sifton, CEO of Sifton Properties. Different media channels were invited to capture the essence of what this report meant to the cities. Following this, a tour of West 5 allowed guests to see the finished townhomes, construction of current projects, and the overall incredible development of the sustainable neighbourhood.

The report, available in 3 different versions, is a valuable tool that explains how to effectively enable developers to build net-zero communities across Canada, with a focus on the technologies and investment methods used, and on effective municipal incentives and processes. The report was funded by Cities of Kingston, Kitchener, London and Waterloo, and by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM’s) Green Municipality Fund.

S2e’s partnership between the FCM, four cities, and eight other developers (two per city) covered the development of brown and green fields, landfills, re-urbanization, heritage, mixed densities, and more. The study looks at three complementary and independent focuses which are described as technical feasibility, financial feasibility, and policy/process feasibility.

Climate change is having a measureable impact on Canada through increased flooding, wild fires, and other major weather events. Municipalities are in the best position to enable local leadership which addresses climate change, and sustainable neighbourhoods are a significant part of the solution. This report gives municipalities a set of real tools that have been tested and shown to be effective. Now they need to be put into practice.

“It’s an experience, we need to continue to educate”. – Milfred Hammerbacher,

CEO – S2e Technologies

“Earth Day is the best possible time to demonstrate climate leadership and to take action. This report gives tools to municipalities that are ready for use, and that work.” – Derek Satnik, VP of Technology, Smart Communities – S2e Technologies 

The event was a tremendous success that brought many people together to celebrate a step in the right direction where education and equipping were the themes throughout, stressing the ability to provide a better solution towards a promising future. This Earth Day, s2e is proud to be enabling true leadership at the local level with partners like FCM and the Cities of Kingston, Kitchener, London and Waterloo.

Visit us on the web at www.s2etech.com, connect with us on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter.

For more information contact:

Kimberley Love
Public Relations for S2e Technologies
Phone: 519-373-1460
Email: kimberleyalove@gmail.com

Innovative EVE Park community gets zoning approval from City of London

Innovative EVE Park community gets zoning approval from City of London

Jan 29, 2019 | Development, EVE Park

Canadian energy innovator s2e behind a residential build that could change the way we live

London ON CANADA – The much-anticipated EVE Park project – an innovative residential community on the west side of London, Ontario – cleared another milestone in December, when local council voted unanimously to approve the zoning by-laws for the pioneering net-zero energy community. The December 10th approval has passed the requisite appeal period as of January 13th.

Derek Satnik, Vice President of Technology, Smart Communities for S2e, has been shepherding the zoning process. “We are really pleased that the zoning change had unanimous support from

council,” said Satnik, who was present at the December meeting. “We know, of course, that the City of London is deeply committed to sustainability issues, and it’s one of the reasons that a project like this is a great fit here.”

The EVE Park project is a groundbreaking residential community designed to integrate green energy technologies with a site plan that focuses on community and shared green space. The community has been designed with an autonomous vehicle future in mind; the plan includes an electric vehicle

car-share program, and removes car garages from the home to allow for more pedestrian-friendly walkways and more outdoor space for uses such as open parks, gardens, small playgrounds or walking trails. The community will include approximately 80 households, and is designed to be offered at market rate.

In their comments on the zoning approval, councillors noted the developer’s commitment to sustainability and alternative mobility.

S2e has co-developed the two largest solar farms in Canada, and has been technical advisor on a long list of projects including the neighbouring West 5 project (Sifton Properties), the first net-zero energy supermarket in Canada (Longos, Stouffville) and are currently in the process of developing net zero energy communities in Mexico, as well as the U.S. where land is under contract and a second EVE Park design is in the planning stages.

“We are all acutely aware of the climate crisis,” says Ashley Hammerbacher, Team Lead for the EVE Park project. “Our vision for EVE Park was to create the kind of sustainable community that could be a serious, viable part of the solution. A community that could generate as much energy as it used

– and that could reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and change our relationship with our environment and our neighbours. I keep hearing that it must be too hard or too expensive. Those are misconceptions, and we’re tackling them with the support of partners – like Ellis Don, Gensler, and others – who are working with us to change perceptions of what is possible.”

The sweeping, circular design of the buildings has also been a key identifying feature of EVE Park, which looks unlike any residential project in the world. The unique design creates community spaces and wide-angle views, says Hammerbacher, who notes that “the idea is that we want to live in a park,

not a parking lot.”

The company has kept in close contact with the London-area community as the EVE Park project has developed, and hopes to break ground in the coming months, although dates are not yet set.

“S2e is proud to be working with the City of London and our EVE Park partners to demonstrate how developers can show leadership on environmental issues by building energy-efficient, thoughtfully designed communities. We know that Canadians respond to the climate message and are looking to be part of the solution. EVE Park can help to show the way forward.”

Milfred Hammerbacher

CEO – S2e Technologies

Visit us on the web at www.s2etech.com, connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

For more information contact:

Kimberley Love
Public Relations for S2e Technologies
Phone: 519-373-1460
Email: kimberleyalove@gmail.com

Ontario’s first sustainable net-zero community shaping up in London

Ontario’s first sustainable net-zero community shaping up in London

Mar 15, 2018 | Development, EVE Park, Net-Zero Energy, Sustainable Real Estate

Sifton Properties Ltd. of London, Ont. has embarked on an ambitious 10-year project to build what is believed to be the province’s first sustainable, net-zero community.

Three years in the making, the 70-acre West 5 development will encompass 2,000 apartments, condominiums and townhouses along with 400,000 square feet of commercial space and a 1.6-acre park.

Located in west London, the community is being designed and built using SMART and net-zero technologies. The development will ultimately generate all of the electricity that it uses.

“Sifton has always been proactive in bringing new building techniques and designs to southwestern Ontario,” says president and CEO Richard Sifton. “We like doing things that are out of the box.”

The inaugural building is the Sifton Centre, home of Sifton Properties’ corporate office. The 60,000-square-foot building was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects and constructed by D. Grant & Sons Ltd.

The building houses both office and retail space.

It incorporates a number of technologies including a solar rooftop and facade; automated lighting, heating and cooling based on occupancy sensors, level of sunlight and solar gain; dynamic glass windows that automatically tint and adjust to sunlight; low-flow plumbing fixtures; and a green roof.

Sifton Properties said the centre generates sufficient electricity to power 14 houses for a year. It also houses a 24,000-litre rainwater cistern that can flush toilets within the building more than 6,000 times with no draw on city water.

“It’s thinking about how you build a better mousetrap and working from that,” said Sifton, who joined the family-owned company in 1989 and has been president and CEO for the past 12 years.

Construction is currently underway on 87 townhouse units.

In the coming months, construction is slated to start on a 10-storey apartment building also designed by Diamond Schmitt, a 41,000-square-foot office building, designed by Tillmann Ruth Robinson Architects, and by year’s end, a seniors apartment building designed by Cornerstone Architecture.

A 4,000-square-foot pet services building is scheduled to open in April.

“There is no moss (growing) around here,” Sifton joked.

Down the road, a solar parkade will be constructed to service the Sifton Centre, the adjacent office building and the pet services facility.

Sifton has retained EllisDon as construction manager on the upcoming apartment building. D. Grant & Sons is the construction manager on the new office building.

In undertaking the development, Sifton Properties has been working with the City of London, London Hydro and s2e Technologies, a firm that specializes in the creation and delivery of large-scale environmentally sustainable solutions and SMART communities.

Late last year, Sifton and s2e won a 2017 Smart Energy Communities Award from Quest (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) in the real estate sector for West 5.

Sifton said executing a net-zero development of this magnitude has been a learning experience for all involved — from local building officials and regulatory agencies to the design professionals themselves.

“There aren’t that many architects or engineers with experience designing net-zero buildings,” he said. “So, we are ahead of the curve. Consequently, we spent a lot more time designing the Sifton Centre than we would have otherwise.”

In some cases, Sifton said, local trades had to be brought up to speed on proper installation techniques for such items as the solar facades on the Sifton Centre.

Keeping abreast of rapidly evolving technologies is an ongoing challenge, Sifton said.

“Things are changing so fast that you can’t rely on what you knew a year ago. You have to continually update,” he explained.

West 5 was formally unveiled at a trade show in London in late January 2015.

Established in London in 1923, Sifton Properties is a diversified land development and property management company.