Abondance – Le Soleil is the first 100% solar-powered condominium project in Canada and is one of the 12 Canadian projects to win the EQuilibrium initiative of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The project team reinterpreted the Montreal triplex housing type as an ideal platform for a new form of sustainable housing that produces as much energy as it consumes annually, centered on the fundamental principles of occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency, renewable energy production, resource conservation and reduced environmental impact. The project was designed and built to a LEED Platinum level and is the result of an Integrated Design Process. It integrates energy efficient techniques and technologies such as a super-sealed and insulated building envelope, geothermal heat pumps, solar photovoltaic and hot water panels, healthy, ecological materials and water efficiency strategies. Abondance – La Terre is a 17-unit ecological condominium project built on the same lot and enclosing an interior courtyard shared by the community of owners and enlivened by exterior passages and private terraces.
Year of construction : 2009 (Le Soleil) and 2013 (La Terre)
Architecture : Studio MMA
General construction : Construction Sodero
Structural engineer : Calculatec Inc.
Mechanical engineer : Pageau Morel et Associé Inc.
Awards & Distinctions
2011 – Real Estate Awards of excellence – Urban Development Institute of Quebec (UDI)
2010 – Case study for the 2030 Challenge – Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
2010 – Contech Trophy – Award for Innovative Practices – Housing And Sustainable Development
2010 – Contech Trophy – Distinction Award for Sustainable Development – Housing And Sustainable Development
2010 – Winners of the AICQ’S Léonard 2010, category « Building- Mechanical-electrical »
2009 – Winner of the award « The “closest to net-zero energy” production home builder of the year » – du Net-Zero Energy Home Coalition
2007 – Winner of SCHL EQuilibrium Housing competition
Press
“La recette nette zéro “, La maison du 21e siècle – Summer 2011
“Les leçons des maisons solaires EQuilibrium”, La maison du 21e siècle – Winter 2011
“Énergie – Le triplex Le Soleil honoré”, La maison du 21e siècle – Winter 2011
“Un autre prix pour le projet Abondance Montréal”, Québec Habitation, November-December 2010
“Architecture et Habitat Collectif au Québec”, Les Publications du Québec, École d’Architecture de l’Université Laval, page 92-93 – November 2010, ISBN 987-2-551-19863-4
“Forum 2010 sur les maisons EQuilibriumMC – Des histoires vraies : la durabilité en action”, SCHL – November 1st to 3rd, 2010
“L’écologie, pour une meilleure qualité de vie”, La Grande Époque – June 29th, 2010
“Premier immeuble résidentiel autosuffisant érigé au pays”, Journal de l’habitation – June 17th, 2010
“Inauguration du triplex solaire le Soleil d’Abondance Montréal”, Québec Habitation – Vol.27 no.3 et site web – June 2010
“Right off the grid”, The Gazette – Homefront – May 22th, 2010
“Premiers condos solaires à Montréal”, Novae – l’avenir est aux entreprises responsables – May 13th, 2010
“Énergie nette zero”, Voir-vert (Constructo) – Winter 2010
“Habiter… le Soleil et la Terre”, Journal Métro – January 7th, 2010
“Sostenibilità ambienta – Abondance Montrèal”, Verde Verticale – Biblioteca di architettura, Oscar Eugenio Bellini and Laura Daglio, Milan, Italy, 2009
“Building a Greener Future”, Home Builder – vol.22 no.5 – September 22nd, 2009
“Adieu, Facture d’Hydro !”, Les Affaires – August 22nd, 2009
“Rêver en (une seule) couleur”, INNO Magazine – Spring 2009
“Le Blogue Maison Verte”, L’Actualité.com – 2009
“Verdun is about to get a bit greener”, CTV News – December 30th, 2008
“Montréal verra naître une première maison autosuffisante en énergie”, Le Devoir – November 1st, 2008
“Abondance Montréal: première pelletée de terre”, La Presse – Mon Toit – November 14th, 2008
“Entrevue radiophonique – Green Condo report”, CBC Radio – November 2008
“BVI – Le Mirage Vert ?”, Formes vol.4 no.2 – 2008
“Abondance Montréal: une qualité d’air supérieure”, La Presse – March 22th, 2008
“Abondance Montréal – Adieu, factures d’électricité et de chauffage !”, Le Devoir – March 15th, 2008
“Quelle demande pour les habitations vertes?”, Métro – March 13th, 2008
“Un projet bio et urbain”, Voir – November 29th, 2007
“Energy in abundance”, Gazette – Homefront – November 24th, 2007
“Un complexe d’habitation aussi moderne que vert”, La Presse – Mon toit -November 17th, 2007
“Les condos zéro-énergie”, Métro – November 15th, 2007
“Green Report”, CFCF 12 TV – June 19th, 2007
Entrevue radiophonique, CBC Radio 1’s Day Break – June 19th, 2007
“Appartements ultraverts à vendre”, La Presse – Mon Toit – June 23rd, 2007
“Un triplex solaire à consommation « nette zéro »”, La maison du 21e siècle – Summer 2007
“Entrevue radiophonique”, CBC Radio 1’s Day Break – May 2007
“Real green estate- Zero-energy condos go up in Verdun reach the youth vote”, Montreal Mirror – February 23rd, 2007
“Concours Equilibrium du gouvernement du Canada – Trois projets québécois s’illustrent”, La Presse – February 17th, 2007
Conferences
– EQuilibrium™ Housing Forum 2010 — True Stories: Sustainability in Action
Presented for the CMHC, Montreal, from November 1st to 3rd, 2010
– A Green Multi-family Housing Project in Verdun, Quebec
Presented for the Vanier CEGEP on March 31st, 2008 and May 1st, 2009
Presented for McGill University on March 17th, 2009
– Conception intégrée des bâtiments à faible consommation énergétique
Presented for the QBEC, Montreal, August 29th, 2007
– Abondance Montréal
Presented at a solar clinic of Énergie Solaire Québec, Montreal, June 16th, 2007
