Dobson Landing to be Atlantic Canada’s First ‘Smart-Energy’ Community
RIVERVIEW, N.B.– A new community being built in Riverview will help NB Power prepare for the smart-energy future.
First-of-its-kind in Atlantic Canada, Dobson Landing will combine smart technology and innovative energy-efficiency solutions into contemporary homes and retail space. Currently under construction, the community will consist of 260 units made up of single family homes, condominiums, three multi-unit residential buildings and retail spaces. All buildings will use at least 50 per cent less energy than minimum code-built homes and will be smart energy accessory and net-zero-ready.
Dobson Landing is the creation of Nova Scotia-based Progeny Modern Homes. The company has built energy-efficient homes before, but when the company acquired some land near The Dobson Trail about three years ago, president Gunther Foerster says they wanted to go bigger.
“Every one of the homes in here, whether it’s a bungalow or a townhouse or single-family unit, we got that mindset,” said Foerster in an interview. “This whole development, not just the single homes, is going to be a unique approach that just sets the standards a little better.”
Dobson Landing’s buildings will include things like R36 wall insulation, Zone 3 triple-glazed windows, air sourced heat pumps and smart technology controls, things that are becoming standard on new energy-efficient homes being built today.
But they are also built to adapt to the future, including being solar panel ready. This is where NB Power, who is helping with the project as a consultant, saw an opportunity.
“It was a way for us to pilot efficient smart technology projects like solar and battery walls,” says Julie Levesque, director of marketing at NB Power. “We’re working on modernizing our infrastructure now, so we recognize that homes and buildings need to be designed to use less energy and be ready to accept all these evolving technologies.”
NB Power’s big pilot project with Dobson Landing is with solar power. Residents will be able to lease solar panels and equipment from NB Power for less than buying them outright, and the company will also install a free smart-home storage battery. NB Power will use this battery to test the limits of what the batteries can do when paired with solar panels, with the goal of better understanding how the two technologies can work together. It will use their findings to help develop energy-storage solutions for customers and to figure out what upgrades are needed to set up community generation across New Brunswick.
“These technologies are an integral part of our utility’s future as we work to help our customers reduce their energy consumption,” says Levesque.
Though construction is still underway on many of the units, Foerster says interest in the properties has been overwhelming. He says there’s even a couple flying out from Vancouver this month to check out their completed show unit.
“People are coming in for a variety of reasons,” says Foerster. “But the whole concept of smart technology that’s affordable, with homes built with better energy efficiency levels that’s still affordable and has the potential for solar [power], people are really getting connected to what that means to them financially, but also in their worldview.”
People will be able to move to Dobson Landing this fall.