Jul 24th, 2024

Green Corner: Hydro Ottawa and OCH Connect Over Desire to Reduce Carbon Footprint 

OCH aims to make communities cleaner and greener by partnering with organizations like Hydro Ottawa.   

On July 24, we announced a plan to continue working together on important projects to create more efficient communities. 

What are some of the projects, and how do they benefit tenants? 

• Electric vehicle car share — In 2022, Thanks to a partnership with Hydro Ottawa, the Ottawa Climate Action Fund, EnviroCentre, and car-sharing company Communauto launched a pilot EV car-share program at 811 Gladstone. The program is available to 700 residents in five OCH communities and will be expanded to the new Mikinak community in 2024.   

• Since 2010, $64.1M in cost savings from more energy-efficient buildings, resulting in lower electricity, heating, and cooling costs, has been reinvested in improving OCH operations.     

• OCH has worked with Hydro to install 37 solar arrays in 37 communities. This means we can put more power into the electricity grid, offsetting electricity costs and using the money to invest in our communities.      

• Automated systems in 18 communities help us monitor mechanical systems like boilers, air makeup units, and domestic hot water systems, allowing remote monitoring and control. The alerts let us know when these systems have maintenance issues – allowing us to fix them before they disrupt tenants. The systems are also able to monitor air quality. The system can automatically shut down air handling units across all buildings if air quality deteriorates, ensuring a safer environment for residents. Thanks to the partnership, we are working with Hydro on another 27 buildings.    

• We are working on installing heat pumps for efficient heating and cooling. This investment will allow heat pumps to be installed in 260 townhomes over time.    

This partnership is a great example of how the community can work together on solutions that make homes more comfortable for OCH tenants.