Alternative Housing Models Case Study:
Benny Farm Redevelopment, Coop Housing and Communal
Green Energy Utility, Montreal, QC
Nov 7, 2006 Florian Jungen
florian@habitatdesign.ca

Basic Facts:
530 new and renovated units of affordable housing over 18 acres for low to average income households including cooperatives, non-profit housing, private rental units and condominiums, townhomes, triplex, sixplex and apartment buildings. Over a third of the
units are destined for first-time home buyers. Six co-operative and non-profit housing projects are planned for Benny Farm: the
Résidences Benny Farm (84 units for seniors), the Coop Zoo (45 units, young families),the Coop Benny Farm (24 units, mixed population), Project Tango (18 units, individuals with limited mobility), Elizabeth House (18 units, single mothers returning to school) and Maison Chance (24 units, single mothers returning to work). These groups were selected by the City of Montreal and receive technical support from Groupe CDH to carry out their
project.

Brief History:
Benny Farm gets its name from an old farm on what was then on the western edge of Montreal. In 1947, the Federal Government built a large tract of low rise housing for veterans and their families there. This remains one of the largest government housing
projects in Canada to date. In the early 1990s, CMHC announced its intention to redevelop Benny Farm in order to house veterans and other tenants in more modern accessible units on the site. The corporation hoped to finance the undertaking by having the
private sector develop the rest of the property. However, the local community reacted strongly, criticizing the project for its density (1200 units), the height of the buildings (6 storeys), the demolition of the post-war buildings, and the loss of the site’s social role. The FFCBF proposed a residential and social development to be based on a land trust model. Canada Lands decided not to extend the agreement with the FFCBF but to put forward a new redevelopment plan and act as principal developer on the project.

Communal Green Energy Utility Company
All the new and renovated buildings are being outfitted with an array of sustainable environmental systems including geothermal heat exchange, hybrid glycol/electric solar power, air- and water-based heat recovery, grey-water and storm-water reuse, wetland
treatment and sub-grade water-table recharge. These systems are conceived of in an integrated manner that addresses simultaneous ecological and social concerns. Geothermal heat exchange uses renewable energy to provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water
and will drastically reduce production of green house gasses over the entire lifetime of the buildings, affecting a realm much greater than Benny Farm. The communal geothermal system at Benny Farm will transfer heat expelled from buildings or collected from thermal solar panels in the summer to soil 100m below the surface to be stored for use in heating during winter. As a direct benefit to the coop residents, the system will also provide substantial savings in energy costs which can be directed to other needs.

Linking buildings
on four properties to the same geothermal borefield reduces the capital investment costs for individual coops and promotes community decision making in a neighbourhood with an established tradition of communal living.
A non-profit, community-run utility company will oversee the ownership, management and continual re-investment in sustainable construction for this common energy, water and waste infrastructure. The legal structure that allows this model is analogous to that of a cooperative housing development. Green Energy Benny Farm (GEBF) will be owned and controlled by a voluntary, user-driven board, which will provide the overall direction to the project. GEBF will actively seek to seed at least two similar projects in Montreal within the next two
years.It is rare that an affordable housing development even begins to incorporate such systems, and yet, long term, the type of installation proposed is the most affordable and respectable
approach for the environment, the users and the non-profit owners. Although there is a commitment from all levels of government to increase the affordable housing stock across Canada, often the level of funding and fiscal framework do not allow for full-cost accounting and life-cycle analysis to be incorporated into their development models. The GEBF pilot project proves how and why this tendency must change.

Funding:
These projects are being made possible through the support of City of Montreal subsidy programs (Accès Logis, Affordable Housing Québec) in partnership with the Société d’habitation du Québec and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The financial assistance takes the form of a loan that becomes a subsidy once the organization has met certain conditions. It guarantees the first mortgage contracted by the organization with a financial institution certified under the program. The programs set obligatory standards for rent levels and controls remain in effect for a period of 25 years. The program is administered by the Société d’habitation du Québec, except in Montréal and Québec City,
where agreements have been signed with the municipalities to allow them to manage the program within their territory.

The Société d’habitation du Québec was established in 1967. It builds low-rental housing.From 1974 the Société took over responsibility for low-rental housing programs, and retained ownership of the buildings it built. In 1997, the Société adopted its first five-year housing intervention plan. Solidarité 5000 logements projects has met its objective to provide 5000 new units of affordable housing in Montreal. The City of Montreal and Human Resources Development Canada subsidizes the cost of
purchasing the land, or offering financial assistance to the builders or first-time buyers.

Green Infrastructure Funding:
The Green Municipal Funds (GMF) were established by a $550-million endowment from the Government of Canada to support municipal government action to cut pollution and improve the quality of life of its citizens. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of
both public and private sector funding to remove investment barriers to green municipal infrastructure, such as real or perceived risks and higher capital costs. Benny Farm receiving a GMF grant of $3M. It is estimated the FCM funding will enable
three housing projects to share substantial environmental benefits by eliminating 313 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, conserving 6,700,000 litres of potable water, and diverting approximately 15,200,000 litres of waste water per year.

GMF funding at work in Alberta: Drake Landing, Okotoks
52-house subdivision to have space and water heating supplied by solar energy.

Land Trusts:
Community land trusts are established to provide low- and middle-income families access to affordable housing many if not most land trusts are not technically trusts, but rather nonprofit
organizations that hold simple title to land and/or other property and manage it in a manner consistent with their non-profit mission.
Residential community land trusts are now widespread in the United States. The Institute for Community Economics in 2004 reported nearly 120 community land trusts of varied sizes in 30 states, the District of Columbia and in five Canadian provinces. While a few earlier trusts faltered, the number of land trusts in North America overall nearly tripled between the 1987 and 2004.
In residential land trusts, the community association usually owns land, while their occupants’ own buildings. Trusts usually retain rights to buy buildings from residents who move out of
the community. The goal of residential trusts is often to protect housing prices from real estate speculation and gentrification but to allow residents to accrue equity, including sweat
equity.

One approach to preventing speculation may be to offer buyers a second mortgage equal to the difference between the property’s market price and the original purchase price, with
payment due upon resale. The money thus recovered would be used to help the next buyer. This method was used in Toronto by Options for Homes, an organization that helped thousands of households become homeowners in an especially tight market.

Sources and Further Reading:
General Planning Document:
http://www.bennyfarm.org/en/pdf/Presentation.pdf
Various links to press kits, multi media, project description:
http://holcimfoundation.org/awards/global/CA_detail.html
Drake Landing Solar Community Okotoks:
www.dlsc.ca
L’OEUF Architect’s Home Page:
www.loeuf.com
Aerial view of Benny Farm site showing old veteran’s housing (brownish brick), renovated
buildings and newly constructed senior’s housing (6 storey building).
Energy comparison, base case vs gmf improvements.
all images courtesy of www.loeuf.com

Edited by David W. on Monday, November 13, 2006, 7:00 PM.