Welcome to GROW Housing - Urban community re-imagined.
The story of GROW Housing began when Chris Tindal started to actively seek out a better model to meet Toronto’s affordable housing shortage. He was sure that the St. Lawrence model of mixed-income co-operative combined with a rent-to-own program was the best way to address the problem. Chris quickly realized that he was going to need the help of a good designer and that’s when Chris met Gordon. Over the following weeks and months more people were added to the team and GROW Housing started to take shape. The realization of this process is not only the fulfillment of the initial objective but serves as a practical example of the Green Party’s policy of universal housing.
According to the Toronto Star there is a $1 billion funding gap in affordable housing in Toronto. This is of direct impact to the more then 65,000 people currently on the City of Toronto’s waiting list who are waiting for affordable housing. There is also a growing consensus of the need for new developments to be environmentally sensitive. What is needed is a new model for affordable housing; a model that learns from past mistakes and builds off past successes. Toronto needs a model that develops housing while providing jobs and improving the community and the environment. GROW Housing seeks to establish this new model.
GROW Housing, currently a conceptual proposal, utilizes an innovative sustainable design strategy to facilitate the creation of affordable housing. The model was developed to mimic the cyclical flow of resources exhibited by the natural world. To create this system, a vertical farm, Living Machine®, and methane digester have been merged with a residential development providing housing for 1,000 residents.
Key Features
- The creation of rent-to-own housing for 500 residents and an equal number of market value housing units.
- On-site growth of 100% of residents dietary needs from Vertical Farm
- On-site generation of all power needs by converting community bio-waste and farm waste into electricity via a methane digester
- Street-level commercial space on Queen and Jarvis Streets to improve the neighbourhood streetscape, stimulate the local economy and provide jobs
- Geothermal Heat Pump system provides entire site with heating and cooling needs, therein massively reducing the energy demands of the site with surplus heating and cooling needs to the neighbouring arena and community centre generating thousands of dollars in annual savings for the City of Toronto
- Geothermal Heating is extremely cost effective over the life-span of the system, providing a real financial advantage.
- A Living Machine® closes the water cycle of the project, enabling the reuse of all rainwater and waste water from the site. Solid biological waste will be filtered and directed to the methane digester for power production
- On-site processes of ALL biological waste generated by residents and farming operations.
- Creation of over 5,300 m2 of rooftop community gardens
- Bio-waste collection program allows local processing of ‘green bin’ waste, which is used to generate additional power needs via the methane digester
- The Vertical Farm, and community bio-waste collection programs would generate many low-skill jobs for the community
- Farm produce available for community purchasing through the ground floor grocery store.
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