The girl with the ecotouch

Globe and Mail: January 28, 2006
Sherry Noik-Bent

Every once in a while, conscience trumps capitalism.

And as Toronto-area developers battle over an ever-shrinking supply of land, sometimes the voice of conscience comes from the mouths of babes.

In this case, it was Newmarket high-school student Kate Gardner, who fought for the approval of an ecologically progressive development proposed for her town. Thanks to her efforts – and her 200-strong petition of fellow Sacred Heart Catholic High School students – a project of 34 “green” homes just received the green light.

“This is something that I believe all students should support,” the 17-year-old says, “because one day we’re going to be home buyers and we’re going to be living with the consequences of the decisions that are made today.”

Forget oddly shaped dwellings constructed of seagrass or recycled sheet metal. This subdivision, off Mulock Drive between Leslie Street and Bayview Avenue, will look like any other. But its conventional facades will camouflage some very unconventional homes that will consume less water, discharge less waste and use less energy.

The as-yet-unnamed project will be the first foray into environmentally friendly building for Rodeo Fine Homes, which plans to accomplish those aims with existing technologies that have so far only been employed in one-off houses. Supporters of the project say it’s the first subdivision of its kind in Canada, and Newmarket officials hope it will be imitated across the country.

“We haven’t invented anything,” rodeo president Vince Naccarato says.

“We researched and we found out that these technologies can achieve [these] criteria. It’s not that difficult.”

The homes, which will range from 2,200 to 3,400 square feet and start at $500,000, will use geothermal heating systems.

In winter, water pumped through underground pipes will pick up warmth, and then draw off that warmth through a heat exchanger and distribute the air through the home. Summertime cooling will work in the same way. Though this process users some power, it eliminates the need for a furnace (and the accompanying gas bills).

Water for shower and laundry will be heated by solar panels on the roof. Toilets – usually one of the main culprits of water consumption – will work on a low-flush system, using more water to get rid of solid waste and less on residents’ more frequent visits to the loo. The builder is also looking into adding rooftop tanks to collect rainwater for outdoor tasks like car washing.

Mr. Naccarato says all these measures will add up to significant cost savings for homeowners. He estimates a 25-per-cent reduction in household water use and energy bills. Besides that, the town will use fewer resources to treat wastewater because of a 60-per-cent reduction in sewage from the homes.

The benefits of such a development to Newmarket were not lost on Mayor Tom Taylor. That’s why he called a special meeting of the town council on Jan. 5 to consider reversing its earlier decision to sell the site to Menkes Developments. Ltd. and reassess Rodeo’s proposal to buy the land. “There were an awful lot of presentations made that night,” he says, “and I think it really brought to the forefront the interest in doing an ecological development.”

Rodeo subsequently upped its bid for the land to $3.2-million – half a million below Menkes’s offer – and committed to an additional $1,000 per lot for the creation of community trails. Mr. Taylor is confident that the town can make up the difference with federal or provincial environmental grants.

The overwhelming community support, along with the revised financials, resulted in a 7 – 1 council decision to sell the land to Rodeo.

“One of the keys,” Mr. Taylor says, “was Katie’s petition on behalf of these kids at the high school.”

After a federal candidates’ debate at her school, Ms. Gardner picked up her community newspaper to read about the results and saw an article about the town’s rejection of the initial tender by Rodeo.

“The politicians had been in our school the day before and they were all saying, you know, we are the future and we can make a difference,” says Ms. Gardner. “So I figured that would be a great place to start.”

In attendance, too, had been Chris Emanuel, Newmarket’s Ward 7 councillor and then president of the Newmarket-Aurora Federal Liberal Association – who is a former student at Sacred Heart.

“He was saying that if you want something to change, you have to step forward and say something, because politicians do listen to students,” Ms. Gardner recalls. When she discovered he had voted against Rodeo, she decided to give him a lesson in money-where-your-mouth-is democracy.

Still, Ms. Gardner was hardly a lone voice in the wilderness for the bid, which was also backed by MP Belinda Stronach, the Ontario Power Authority, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and most, if not all, of the nearly 200 local residents who packed the council chambers.

The eco-homes will be part of a planned 90-acre, mixed-use development that will comprise a sports and recreation complex, community gardens, a preserved historic farmstead, a low-rise building of affordable and special-needs residences, and two lots donated to Habitat For Humanity.

Another 124 homes will be built by Menkes on nearby land it purchased from the town last year.

The developer recently announced that these homes will be energy-efficient, though what that means is yet to be determined.

Seems Ms. Gardner has started something. “I don’t know that much about the money that’s involved or the taxes or any of that kind of stuff,” she says. “My main concern was the environment, and that was all.”