Windsor-Essex recognized for environmental excellence

NOW House Windsor 5 project receives award for green leadership

WINDSOR, ON, Nov. 19, 2012 /CNW/ - The NOW House Windsor 5 project by Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation (CHC) was recognized for its pursuit of environmental excellence by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) this past weekend.

The ONPHA Going Green Award, one of ONPHA's annual awards, recognizes a non-profit housing provider that is taking innovative steps to reduce its environmental impact.

"Aging housing stock presents a number of challenges to non-profit housing landlords looking to green their operations" says Sharad Kerur, ONPHA's Executive Director. "The NOW House Windsor 5 project has helped both the sector and homeowners who would like to make their homes more eco-friendly."

The NOW House Windsor 5 project demonstrates the excellent forward-thinking of Windsor-Essex. With 125 wartime houses in its portfolio, the corporation wanted to test different technologies and retrofit combinations to determine the best investment in sustainability.

The pilot began by choosing five adjacent one-and-a-half storey, post-war homes in the Bridgeview North community of Windsor. Each home received a different package of retrofits and, over the course of one year, the project team monitored them.

The project was supported by a number of community partners, and the team worked closely with residents and community members to hear their views and to pass on what they learned. They also secured relationships with partners in the energy, financial, manufacturing and public sectors.

After one year of operation, all five retrofits showed considerable savings in utilities, costs and emissions. Two of the homes even achieved net-zero energy costs - only producing as much energy as they used.

Not only can the knowledge gained be applied to the CHC's portfolio - these retrofits can be replicated in other communities across the province and even across Canada, saving energy and creating greener non-profit housing for years to come. The results are a great inspiration, and an example of where we need to go and how we can get there.

"We are committed to working with tenants and community partners to make our portfolio greener," says Jim Steele, CEO of CHC.  "This project gave us the valuable experience we need to implement energy conservation measures. We will use what we've learned on future projects and are sharing what we've done with the community. Most importantly, our tenants are proud to call these houses home."

About ONPHA:

For more than 20 years, the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) has been the voice of non-profit housing in Ontario.  Our 770 member organizations operate more than 163,000 non‐profit housing units in over 220 communities in Ontario. They provide affordable homes to a diverse range of tenants, including: seniors; low‐income families with children; Aboriginal people; the working poor; victims of violence and abuse; people living with developmental disabilities, mental illness, addictions and HIV/AIDS; and the formerly homeless/hard‐to‐house.

About the ONPHA Awards:

The award winners were announced during ONPHA's 2012 Conference and Trade Show from November 16-18.  Over 1,100 representatives from Ontario's affordable housing sector gathered together for this three-day event, featuring more than 85 workshop events and a trade show with more than 80 exhibitors.

Since 1997, many individuals and non-profits have been recognized for their contributions to the sector.  There are many more that deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their dedication to, and support of, non-profit housing. Videos of each award recipient are available at www.onpha.on.ca/awards.

SOURCE: Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA)

Media contact:

John Wilson
Communications and Marketing, ONPHA
416-927-9144 ext. 113
[email protected]

Find ONPHA online:

www.onpha.on.ca
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