On an unseasonably warm day in mid-February, Options for Homes staff, The Mayor of Pickering David Ryan, and select guests are learning about an exciting new aspect of Options developments.

Liberty at Discovery Place, Options’ development in Pickering, ON, is the first Options condo to be retrofit with a solar powered water heating system. The system was manufactured by EnerWorks Inc. and installed by Glenbarra Energy Solutions, Inc. Consisting of 76 Roof Mounted Solar Collectors, the system will optimise the building’s energy use to reduce the condo’s green house gas emissions by an estimated 48.5 metric tons per year.

But the Earth isn’t the only one benefitting from solar power. The residents will receive substantial cost savings on their energy bills. As a result, Options for Homes plans to include solar powered water heating systems in all of their new developments.

The latest Options development, The Village by High Park, will be built with a similar solar water heating system as well. Including the system from the beginning is much less costly than retrofitting, and will save the residents money in condo fees.

For Options, solar heating is just the beginning. “The Village by High Park will also feature carbon air filtration, heat recycling, and motion censor lighting in the underground parking to protect the planet and reduce common costs for our owners. If you have the ability to go green, why stop at solar heating?” says Options Marketing Co-ordinator, Jessica Speziale.

Options does not plan limiting their green efforts. Options for Cars, a car share co-operative for Options owners, is in the works and will be available in each new Options development as well as in existing developments The Village at Guildwood in Scarborough, and Liberty at Discovery Place in Pickering. Options is also beginning a new initiative called Options for Energy which will be a green energy company using the Options business model. For more information, please call Marc van Beusekom at 416.867.1501 x 229.

Register for a free information session for the Village at High Park here!

Approximately half Liberty at Discovery Place solar powered water heating system was paid for by the Federal and Provincial Incentive Programs and expects the technology to pay for itself in savings within 10 years.