First ‘off-grid’ workplace unveiled in Edmonton

City’s first off-grid workplace unveiled Mike Holmes helped unveil the first office building in Edmonton completely off the electrical grid. CTV Edmonton’s David Ewasuk reports.

The first office ever to exist off the electrical grid in Edmonton is open for business.

Effect Home Builders, a Holmes Approved Homes builder, turned an old apartment building into one of the most energy efficient office buildings in the city.

“This project is very exciting as it’s much more than a renovation,” said Les Wold, managing partner at Effect Home Builders.

Using new technology the builder was able to reduce the buildings’ CO2 emissions by 80 percent.

“It enhances the neighbourhood and showcases an innovative way to generate all power on site while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Wold said.

ATCO provided two AISIN micro combined heat and power units to the renovation project, a technology that is new in Canada. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by using natural gas to produce heat and electricity. It also captures wasted heat and uses it to heat the building.

“When using the mCHP unit in a home, CO2 emissions have the potential to be reduced up to 31 per cent or 3.5 tonnes per year,” said Greg Caldwell, director of development and innovation at ATCO.

“To put this in perspective, this would be similar to you driving 13,000 kilometres less per year,” he added.

The units work with solar panels and battery storage giving the building enough power to be independent of the electrical grid.