Three funders behind the Okotoks solar homes
Drake Landing was funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, announced in Calgary on 30 March 2005. Ottawa gave $2 million and the Federation $2.9 million, with Alberta adding a little over $600,000.
Event date: 2005-03-31
The three contributions
Ottawa put in $2 million. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities invested $2.9 million, making it the largest single contributor. Alberta's share is stated in two ways in the 2005 material kept here, $625,000 in one place and $635,000 in another, so the exact figure should be treated with care. Together the three came to roughly $5.5 million, which fits a pilot carried by about $5 million in subsidies.
What the money was meant to build
The plan in the announcement was short. Collectors on garage roofs would send heat to underground storage, which grew warmer through the summer. In winter the heat would be drawn out and sent through a district heating system to 52 homes, covering more than 90 per cent of their space heating. Each house was expected to avoid about five tonnes of greenhouse gas a year. The loop is described under district heating, and the ground store on the borehole storage page.
Public money also explains how the houses could be sold at prices close to conventional ones, since the solar system cost far more than a normal furnace. A non-profit company was expected to run the system for its first four years, with ATCO Gas managing construction and operation.
Did the investment pay off?
On the technical side, yes: measured solar heating reached 97 per cent by 2012 and 100 per cent in 2015-16. The record is summarised in the backgrounder, and the three-party funding explains why the first owners paid ordinary prices for an unusual heating system. After deterioration problems from about 2020 the system was decommissioned beginning in 2024. Questions about the remaining equipment, which are not settled in the material kept here, should go to the Town of Okotoks or ATCO.
Quick answers
Who funded Drake Landing?
The Government of Canada gave $2 million, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities $2.9 million and the Government of Alberta a sum recorded as $625,000 or $635,000.
Why were Drake Landing homes priced like ordinary homes?
Public grants covered much of the solar system cost, which let the builder price the houses in line with similar new homes nearby.