Canada
As of 2022, Crown Manor was the fifth most greenhouse gas (GHG)-intensive building in the MVHC portfolio. It is a 29-unit, affordable rental housing site in New Westminster that consists of a four-level apartment building with a penthouse unit on the roof. A portion of the ground floor is dedicated to surface parking which extends out towards the service lane behind the building. It was built in in 1966, making it one of the oldest buildings in MVHC’s portfolio.
This housing site was one of three MVHC sites involved in the Pembina Institute’s Reframed Initiative which began in 2021. The Reframed Initiative is a multi-partner initiative to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of whole-building retrofit solutions that integrate energy efficiency, decarbonization, seismic safety, and climate adaptation on existing multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs).
When selecting buildings for Reframed, MVHC chose three of the most energy and/or GHG-intensive sites. Other considerations for inclusion in Reframed included the age and condition of the building. The renovation “bundle” thus included (among others):
- Replacement of a portion of the building envelope with new wall components (plywood sheathing, continuous air/moisture barrier, exterior insulating and cladding)
- New low-slope roofing with additional insulation
- New high efficiency, electric HVAC equipment including air source heat pumps (ASHP) for DHW, PTAC units for in-suite cooling, rooftop ASHPs for tempered ventilation of common areas
Lessons learned / results:
- Energy use was reduced by 62 percent
- Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 98 percent
Key facts
| Building | Heat Pump and Source | ||
| Location | New Westminster, Canada | Number of HP | – |
| Construction | 1966 | Operation mode | monoenergetic |
| Retrofit | Start in 2021 | Heat source | air |
| No. of apartments | 29 | Type of system | central-decentral |
| Level of insulation | good | Heating/cooling distribution | ventilation baseboards |
| Heating & Cooling sysem | |||
| Thermal energy demand intensity | 10 kWh/m2 per year | Cooling | PTAC (in-suite) HP (common area) |
| Additional heating | 500W baseboard heaters in each flat back-up gas boiler for common areas | ||
| Other information | |||
| Climate Zone | Cfb | Family Membership | B Family |
MVHC decided to proceed with a modified Bundle 2 that included the replacement of the existing condensing gas boiler (for centralized space heating) with an electric ASHP. The existing boiler remains as a backup unit as it’s not at the end of its service life. With this modification, the bundle reduced energy use and GHG emissions by 62% and 98% respectively (compared to the existing building).
CA003 – Crown Manor
Case study delivered by: Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) A Deep Retrofit of Crown Manor – ZEBx