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As the development team of Ballantry Homes and Silwell Developments Ltd continues to advance their Uptown Oakville project — The Villages of Oak Park — new details are emerging about the various features of development’s first phase. Designed by Kirkor Architects Planners, the 12-storey mid-rise offers a variety of amenity spaces programmed to meet the needs of the contemporary resident, while at the same time featuring a number of sustainable systems that allow the building to operate with minimal emissions and benefit from cutting edge smart home technology.
The Villages of Oak Park is designed with impactful ways to reduce emissions. According to the Government of Canada, 13% of the County’s annual emissions come from the buildings sector, with space and water heating equipment accounting for over three quarters of that. This is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of buildings rely on HVAC systems that are powered by the combustion of natural gas. Over the last decade, however, geothermal systems like geo-exchange heating have been gaining ground as a viable method of heating and cooling for large scale developments, and Oak Park is among the developments investing in geo-exchange in order to deliver a building that cuts emissions in the most intensive area of operations. Additionally, Geo-exchange also reduces condo fees for residents, as the system requires significantly less energy to heat and cool the air, thus reducing electricity costs.
Expanding on this highly efficient and sustainable HVAC system, The Villages of Oak Park will also be equipped with Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) in its air circulation system. Similar to Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs), ERVs remove stale air from inside the building and replace it with fresh air from outside, but the real benefit of the system is the energy transfer that takes place during that process.
During heating season, both the heat and moisture from the stale air being removed from the building is stored in the system, and is then transferred to the fresh air as it comes in; in cooling season, the system works the opposite way. What this accomplishes is a regulation of the temperature of the air coming into the building, bringing it closer to the desired temperature before it enters the HVAC system, and ultimately requiring less energy to heat and cool air over all. Additionally, the ERV system also acts as another level of filtration, removing pollutants and allergens to improve air quality.
Additional sustainability features are also worked into other areas of the building, like the inclusion of EV charging stations in the building’s underground parkade. Meanwhile, in the building envelope, double-glazed windows with argon gas filling and high-efficiency insulation in the walls and roof work together to seal the building thoroughly, minimizing the loss of heat and energy.
In terms of smart home technology, the building will be outfitted with Rogers’ 1Valet system, that provides both a high speed fibre-powered network and a suite of conveniences for residents. Through a smartphone app, residents will be able to gain entry to the building as well as their units, and will also enjoy features like parcel scanning and delivery notifications, amenity bookings, and smart locking.
With the first phase of The Villages of Oak Park coming together, the project is nearly ready to hit the market, marking another shift in the identity of the Uptown Oakville community. As new businesses and infrastructure continue to urbanize the area, the residential component is following closely behind.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | Aercoustics Engineering Ltd, Ballantry Homes, Diverso Energy, KIRKOR Architects and Planners, MHBC Planning, NAK Design Strategies, Ryan Design International, VIP Condos Toronto |
