Solar Gardens and Fleet Electrification for HRM/Kjipuktuk Housing
At the intersection of a national housing crisis and the urgent need to address climate change lies a deeply rooted problem: how can we provide adequate housing that is both affordable and low-carbon?
Wayne Groszko, Applied Energy Research Scientist at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), partnered with the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (NSPHA), Metropolitan District, to look at these issues through the lens of reducing the carbon footprint of public housing.
Together, these partners undertook a project, funded in part by HCi3, to assess the feasibility of community solar gardens and vehicle fleet electrification for NSPHA affordable housing properties in the HRM. All the NSPHA properties in the HRM with more than 10 dwelling units were studied, a total of 80 properties with just over 3000 units. Properties that were looked at included Mulgrave Park, Uniacke Square, and Greystone, to name a few.
Grant award: $40,000
The project began with data collection of the energy consumption at each of the NSPHA properties to estimate how much solar energy would be required to support these communities. Once this was complete, the team then identified locations in the HRM that would be suitable for community solar gardens that were in the target communities. These sites were located on space that was not being used, such as parking lots, rooftops, and “brownfield sites” (land that is abandoned or underutilized from industrial use), as well as provincial public lands that could potentially combine new housing with solar energy production. These sites were then assessed for technical, economic, and social feasibility.
“Being able to show the potential for community solar power for these buildings will support major GHG reductions in the affordable housing sector,” said Groszko.
At the same time, a separate study was conducted on electrifying the fleet of work vehicles that NSPHA uses for their operations. The distance travelled by 30 out of 40 NSPHA fleet vehicles was tracked, helping determine the charging requirements for the fleet. The results culminated in an 8-year plan for fleet electrification, considering federal rebates for medium-duty work vehicles, and providing cost estimates.
“We also aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 5 to 20 years by providing the research and planning necessary to support an investment in vehicle fleet electrification by the NSPHA,” Groszko continued, “The potential to reduce GHG emissions from both the housing stock and the vehicle fleet is large.”
The project wrapped up in January 2024, accomplishing many of its goals:
The team successfully quantified the electricity consumption of all the NSPHA affordable housing properties in HRM, and included an estimate of how much solar energy would be required to power all of these homes.
They identified suitable locations for community solar gardens of at least 1 MW of solar capacity, with the most ideal candidate site being in East Preston. A community solar garden is a shared solar power plant that provides electricity for a participating community, in this case the NSPHA and its residents in HRM.
They proposed a 5-year plan for a 10-MW community solar garden, which would supply the majority of the power needed for the NSPHA properties.
Lastly, they tracked the distance travelled by 30 out of 40 fleet vehicles and were able to determine that level 2 chargers would cover 97% of the trips.
Having shared the results with the NSPHA, the research team looks forward to supporting next steps toward implementing community solar gardens and vehicle fleet electrification.
Grant Highlights
