Community Development - Blatchford

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by CMD UW

You mean like most videos for every other type of development. What's the big deal really??

Being sarcastic... it's a fine video.

But the reality is that this was to be a great development in the beginning. Now...not so much.

I was looking for this.......

4289548 by BLACK STAR III, on Flickr

Edmonton_Plaza-1x by BLACK STAR III, on Flickr

Picture8-5 by BLACK STAR III, on Flickr




Gratuitous final closing shot

Closure by BLACK STAR III, on Flickr

[Coldrsx]

@Blatchfordyeg

[mintzilla]

I was expecting protected bike lanes on every major street. Disappointed. Seems like the same car centric stuff you see everywhere.

[MichaelC]

Originally Posted by mintzilla

I was expecting protected bike lanes on every major street. Disappointed. Seems like the same car centric stuff you see everywhere.

At least there are bike lanes, and the roads which end in "mews" are pedestrian only roads... which is a plus

[s211]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

@Blatchfordyeg

WORLD CLASS!!!!!

Which is the last thing that comes to mind.

[mintzilla]

Originally Posted by MichaelC

At least there are bike lanes, and the roads which end in "mews" are pedestrian only roads... which is a plus

Pedestrian roads are good if they connect people to places they want to go. Not just random spot in neighbourhood to other random spot.

Add bike lanes to blatchford road and control tower road. Change the intersections to traffic circles. Add some mixed use (retail on bottom 3 stories of apartments on top) and I can get behind this 100%

Edit: I didn’t see that #17 was mixed use

[kcantor]

^^

you'd think if there was a 22 in the legend there would be a 22 on the plan somewhere.

you'd also think if you're going to have a key plan it should either be oriented in the same direction as the main plan or it should at least have its own north arrow so someone who doesn't know where airport road is or in which direction the main city grid is in the surrounding area could still use it...

but what do i know, i'm just a dumb developer.

ps i stand corrected, there is a 22, just not where one would expect front porches and setbacks. some days dumber than others.

[Vixx]

Does anyone really think Blatchford will turn out to be anything more then a replica of the new suburban developments sprouting up in Windermere lmao.

[MichaelC]

So what is Nait doing with it's purchase of land in Blatchford?

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by MichaelC

So what is Nait doing with it's purchase of land in Blatchford?

Nothing...yet.

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by Vixx

Does anyone really think Blatchford will turn out to be anything more then a replica of the new suburban developments sprouting up in Windermere lmao.

In some respects it will be like a 'new' community because that's what it is. But in many other respects it will be different than your 'standard' suburban community.

[MichaelC]

Originally Posted by Vixx

Does anyone really think Blatchford will turn out to be anything more then a replica of the new suburban developments sprouting up in Windermere lmao.

It'll be more environment friendly, it will have more of an urban feel, be denser, and hopefully have a lot less vinyl.

[Rogie]

The City of Edmonton has posted a video that helps put some of the plans into context.

https://youtu.be/__pAYdYElRg

[Coldrsx]

It's happening!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__pAYdYElRg

[Coldrsx]

First homebuilders announced.

https://blatchfordedmonton.ca/homes/

[Coldrsx]

Blatchford launches flight plan

LAURA SEVERS Updated: May 12, 2019

Blatchford is now boarding.

One of Edmonton’s newest residential developments, the city’s former municipal airport site, is no longer in a holding pattern when it comes to new home construction. Closed since November 2013 when the last plane took off, it’s wheels-up time for this highly anticipated new neighbourhood.

And with the recent announcement unveiling the first four home builders for Blatchford at the end of March, some buyers already have their boarding pass in hand. Others are on their final approach.

“We’ve been watching Blatchford since the first announcement and when selling dates were communicated, we were ready to make our move,” said Monette Malley. “The day of the announcement, I followed up with my husband and said, ‘This is where I want to live.’ The sustainable community and location is very appealing.”

Blatchford, which encompasses 217 hectares (536 acres), will be a sustainable community that uses 100 per cent renewable energy, be carbon neutral, and have a significantly reduced ecological footprint. When fully built out in some 25 years, it will be home to 30,000 residents.

https://edmontonjournal.com/life/hom...es-flight-plan

[Coldrsx]

Blatchford’s exciting vision is to be a carbon neutral neighbourhood that is powered entirely by renewable energy. So, how do we get there and where do we start? Building a truly sustainable development like Blatchford means taking an ambitious, creative and innovative approach to energy use in the community.

An important step in the journey was understanding where Edmonton’s greenhouse gas emissions come from. With 20% of greenhouse gas emissions produced from residential buildings and 20% of the emissions produced from commercial buildings, Blatchford needed to look at how to provide heating, cooling and hot water to homes and businesses differently. The made-for-Edmonton solution? A District Energy Sharing System.

Blatchford’s District Energy Sharing System is a high-efficiency energy delivery system that will replace traditional furnaces, air conditioners and boilers in homes and buildings. It is a centralized system that distributes and shares heating and cooling energy between all types of buildings throughout the entire neighbourhood.

While district energy systems are a proven technology used all over the world, we are leading the way in creating a renewable energy system of this size in the region. The first stage of the District Energy Sharing System uses a geoexchange field, which harnesses the shallow geothermal energy below the earth’s surface, as its main renewable energy source. With 570 boreholes, Blatchford’s first geoexchange field is one of the largest in Canada!

https://blatchfordedmonton.ca/summer-2019-newsletter/

[kcantor]

as always, the devil is in the definitions, the execution and the details.

starting with definitions, our natural gas and our power distribution networks are already highly efficient energy delivery systems. their "district" is simply larger than blatchford's.

will blatchford's replace traditional furnaces, air conditioners and boilers? maybe. but certainly not completely in any building i built. or at least not without sufficient alternative backup systems to operate the building without the district energy being available because it is pretty much guaranteed that over the life-span of the system or the life-span of the building there will be periods during which it will be unavailable. so the question is whether the incremental differences in both capital and operating costs make the district energy investment worthwhile.

the results of a system failure or delivery interuption in our climate are simply too catastrophic when it's -35 to be completely reliant on outside sources so every building will still need a similar initial capital investment - you can't compare one to the other because it isn't either/or, it's both. yes, district energy exists all over the world but i'm not sure how much of that is directly relevent to what's being done at blatchford.

firstly, the consequences of a system failure here are much different and more problematic than in vancouver.

secondly, buried underground distribution is much different and more problematic than systems - like those at the u of a or the airport - that are distributed through tunnels and everything is available not just for emergency repairs but for monitoring and repairing before failure and refurbishment, all in a temperature controlled setting.

while i support the end objectives, i'm not convinced that when they say blatchford is leading the way in creating a system of this size that they're not leading the way for good reason and not in a good way. economy and efficiency when it comes to energy distribution seems to be best delivered at a large scale (power generation whether from non-renewables or renewables) or at the micro scale (individual buildings designed to minimize consumption and/or generate their own requirements).

i hope it works - or that at least it doesn't turn out to be a catastrophe - but from my perspective the monies being invested here on energy's missing middle would probably have provided a greater return being invested on either of the other ends of the scale.

[DKaz]

Is it steam or hot water at Blatchford? Hot water with a thick walled plastic pipe should last 50 years, provided the joints are properly done.

I'd be more interested to see if they insulated the lines or not, or if we'll be able to clearly see where the lines are running in the dead of winter?

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Is it steam or hot water at Blatchford? Hot water with a thick walled plastic pipe should last 50 years, provided the joints are properly done.

I'd be more interested to see if they insulated the lines or not, or if we'll be able to clearly see where the lines are running in the dead of winter?

Plastic Pipe for the down hole work I believe but was not on site then. Big steel pipe into the building. and it is a water system. I can't say if the collection pipes are insulated since that was someone else.

All downstream tests are done. Just have to start-up and commission the heat exchangers. The solar panels are now up and running.

When the site is open you will be able to see the heat exchanger room. the pump room below is non-observable.