Ottawa's Library Parcel Combines Inclusion, Sustainability
Twin apartment towers will be crowned with solar-power photovoltaic arrays.
The revitalization of Ottawa’s LeBreton Flats neighborhood that began with the opening of a new Canadian War Museum in 2005 now is transforming the former industrial zone into a residential hub.
The centerpiece of this transformation is a mixed-use, transit-oriented community anchored by two towers and known simply as the Library Parcel.
The developers, who call themselves Dream LeBreton, are planning to make the Library Parcel into a model for inclusion, innovation and sustainability. Dream LeBreton is a partnership between Dream Asset Management, Dream Impact and a local non-profit group, Multifaith Housing Initiative.
According to a report in RemiNetwork, the partners are planning to build a 36-story tower and 31-story tower on the Library Parcel site. The buildings will encompass 601 rental units, of which 41% will be designated affordable and earmarked for five target populations: Indigenous communities; women and children; immigrants; veterans; and adults with cognitive disabilities.
The towers will be clad with a prefabricated, panelized exterior wall system that optimizes energy performance and reduces thermal bridging. The prefabricated wall system accelerates the speed of construction, bringing the project to market faster than with conventional, site-built wall systems.
The Library Parcel is one of two projects Dream is developing in the National Capital Region for which the company is pursuing certification through the One Planet Living (OPL) framework, an emerging global building code that stipulates the deployment of smart technology that enables residents to control their own energy use, among other requirements.
To offset power from the grid, each of the Library Parcel towers will be topped off with solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays capable of producing 200 MWh of annual electricity generation.
Dream is partnering with Theia Partners, who will build and operate a carbon-free heating and cooling system to be known as the LeBreton Community Utility (LCU), a system hooked up the Albert Street Sewer line under the Library Parcel. Peak heating loads will be supplemented with electric boilers.
According to RemiNetwork’s report, Dream is planning for the LCU plant to be the first of several nodes in a scalable low-carbon district energy system that operates at near ground temperatures, connecting various sources of thermal energy supply and storage beyond this project throughout LeBreton Flats.
Dream previously developed Zibi, a 35-acre master-planned community that opened in LeBreton Flats in 2021. Zibi also is designed according to OPL standards.