Lumby Seniors Affordable BC Housing
Lumby, British Columbia
In June 2022, Falcon Engineering was engaged to provide electrical, mechanical and energy consulting engineering services for a new 20 Unit Affordable BC Housing Project located at 2211 Shields Avenue and Glencaird Street in the Village of Lumby. The project is being led by the Lumby and District Senior Citizen Housing Society [LDSCHS], a regional organization with a 50-year history of successful development and operation of seniors housing projects in the Lumby community. The project is being funded in part by the BC Housing Community Housing Fund and CMHA National Housing Co-Investment Fund, with an overall capital budget estimated at $5.6 million and construction budget $3.25 million.
The Lumby Seniors Housing project was initiated to address a lack of affordable housing suitable for seniors in the Village and region. The building was designed to meet BC Housing Design Guidelines and Construction Standards, with municipal approval applications reviewed by the Regional District of North Okanagan [RDNO].
The Falcon team worked closely with the entire consultant team to develop cost-effective and energy efficient engineering systems for this 3-storey wood frame apartment-style building. All units are compact one bedroom suites. Four of these units are slightly larger to accommodate residents with mobility issues. The building includes a ground floor amenity room for residents, a mobility device storage room plus administrator’s office space. Ground floor units have direct access from an exterior perimeter walkway. Upper levels are accessed by elevator and include balconies.
Falcon’s electrical design includes a roof-top solar panel array to support the building’s energy performance and lower the cost of operations. The mechanical design includes ducted split heat pump systems for suites and similar equipment for other spaces, such as the amenity room. In general, systems are selected with an emphasis on energy efficiency and managed construction cost. The building also includes Fire Protection design based on residential requirements, with a similar focus on construction and maintenance/servicing costs.
The project includes energy modelling by Falcon’s Energy engineering department, which allows the building to achieve Step Code 3. This building also incorporates a renewable solar photovoltaic array that displaces energy from the grid and further reduces the buildings total energy use intensity qualifying the building for additional funding opportunities through the Green Municipal Fund (GMF).
The compact scale and low unit count of this project, the estimated cost and purpose-built functional characteristics of this project are directly comparable to the proposed BC Housing permanent second stage women’s residential projects for Kamloops. The Lumby Senior’s project is currently under construction, with expected completion for occupancy by June 2025.