Home Buyers Show Interest In New Solar-Powered Moncton Neighbourhood
MONCTON – Construction is getting underway this spring on a new solar-powered neighbourhood in northeast Moncton.
The so-called North Branch will also be a test site for the federally funded smart grid project led NB Power, NS Power and Siemens.
NB Power spokesperson Brent Staeben says interested home buyers are being sought and they must agree to be part of the smart energy research.
Moncton was chosen as the location mainly due to its red-hot real estate market. Staeben says potential buyers have shown interest from both here and across the country.
Solaire Homes plans to build 100 homes that will have the latest technologies such as home energy management systems, rooftop solar panels and storage batteries.
“This is a really exciting opportunity to be able to integrate energy-efficient housing with some of the newer technologies that are being developed by NB Power and Siemens,” said Solaire Homes president Paul Arsenault in an interview with Huddle last fall.
“We are, in effect, going to be a showcase for some of those new technologies – to prove them, to demonstrate them, to educate people as to how they work, and just be able to employ some of these technologies with the end result to improve the environment.”
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The fully tech-outfitted homes are expected to range in price from $270,000 for semi-detached to $400,000 for a single-family home with energy savings more than expected to cover any extra costs in construction materials and for the technologies.
The first homes could be ready by this fall.
The North Branch neighbourhood splits off from the northern section of Halls Creek and is accessible from McLaughlin Drive.
Allan Dearing is a news reporter with 91.9 The Bend in Moncton, a Huddle content partner.