Positive Energy Building Developments
A positive energy building is a building that produces more energy than it consumes. Our real estate projects demonstrate that it is possible, using yesterday's (often forgotten) wisdom and today's technologies, to build sustainable residential, commercial and industrial buildings that produce more energy than they consume, at lower construction and operating costs. GPEKS buildings feature the lowest operating and maintenance costs (energy, repairs...), while also offering the lowest environmental impact, the healthiest buildings and utmost comfort. This will be made possible thanks to factors such as radiant heat, optimum control of humidity, air movement, sound insulation and air quality. Unlike typical residences which unless rented are a liability (no income, property tax and maintenance cost, loosing value as they age poorly), our buildings are designed to produce cash flow from energy, food and with smart rental space available. The building materials chosen feature the lowest possible embodied energy. The energy used to produce, transport and install typical building materials for a home can account for more than 40 years of energy consumption expected from average buildings (taking into heat, A/C and electricity), and typical home construction results in the destruction of over an acre of forested area per home. The positive energy buildings are designed to provide enough excess electricity to power one or two electric vehicles traveling a total average of 80 km per day. The EV "fuel" and operating cost will come from the solar roof and will be provided at a fraction of the fuel and operating cost required to operate a typical Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle. Another main aspect of these homes is that they offer the highest possible level of resilience and protection thanks to an integrated year-round food production system that provides both fish protein and fresh vegetables. Our approach is based on a totally different paradigm and a new way to develop, finance and build all kinds of buildings. Our residential developments incorporate the concepts used by "intentional communities" where some resources and space are shared through co-housing while offering an optimal balance of privacy. We create communities that go further than LEED Platinum certified buildings by featuring the first real estate developments outside of Europe to feature HQE (High Quality Environment) certified buildings . Residential - Single and Multi-unit
The projects we develop ensure walkability, safe bicycle lanes and paths, electric car sharing and recharging, green (multi-level when possible) parking lots. They to be served by electric school bus routes, and electric mini-bus services to downtown. The design integrates urban gardens and seek to attract community services and green businesses including organic local food stores and restaurants, artisan shops, green product retail outlets, health and recreation facilities, industries such as compressed earth brick manufacturing and other businesses related to low impact sustainable building materials. The design of the developments is to be inspired from the work of people such as UC Berkeley Prof. Christopher Alexander, known for his work on living architecture. We offer build the option of providing customized active and passive solar tiny houses (with attached greenhouse) to satisfy the needs of people looking for affordability but want more independence and building mobility versus living in a condo unit attached to the ground. |
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Commercial/MixedThe mixed use residential/commercial “regenerative” neighborhoods/village buildings feature a retail store or workshop on the first floor, and one or two upper floors with residential units for the operators of the business located on the first floor. These buildings are autonomous off-grid ready and feature green infrastructure for access roads, parking, but also sewage/waste management, and water. These buildings use an integrated approach, with mixed-use low rise buildings and homes that will offer a great variety of sizes, shapes and appearance while allowing optimal passive and active solar energy. The design of these 'smart green plazas' combines the features of our pure residential developments, plus add features desirable for business operations. Below is an example of conceptual layout for a mixed use street that features a green smart plaza with 10 businesses. Based on the actual layout of the lot, this may be streets with for example 5 businesses facing 2 or 3 businesses on the other side and the balance on the other street (i.e.. The Hostel and Restaurant).
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Our pilot residential building is a triplex located within 30 minutes of Canada's national capital region. This building offers the ability to operate off-grid and combines various optional features for larger multi-unit development . The pilot building features an urban style low impact and low noise vertical axis wind turbine, an aquaponics system located in the veranda adjacent to the house, a natural pool, clean and sustainable (salt solution) batteries that outlive and outperform traditional battery chemistries, inter seasonal storage of heat in a large stratified insulated cistern located in the building and combined with a water source heat pump that distributes heat through hydronic floors. A solar thermal/biomass heated greenhouse with hydronic piping in the ground and water efficient drip irrigation is to be used to produce vegetables all winter, and the project also features an urban forest and community garden.
Documentation on Processes and TechnologiesTo obtain the free report "Integrating Technologies and Urban Developments – The hidden benefits" (NRCan sponsored study, 2014), which triggered our real estate development undertakings, please make a request using our contact page. Building DesignBuilding Materials
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Urban Forest & Natural Landscaping
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Electric Vehicles and Transport
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Water Management
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