Montreal is not a northern city. Montreal is much more.
Montreal has an extreme climate because of its contrasting seasons. In winter, it spends $150 million* on snow removal, while in summer, its residents spend over $132 million** on air conditioning. Would it be possible to exploit these temperature extremes by using, in theory, the cooling potential of our winters to cool our summers? How could we do this?
Instead of considering snow as a waste product, let's collect its freshness and its water supply! Let's turn snow into a resource that will allow us to air-condition our Montreal homes!
What if we dug a hole to keep the snow as long as possible and with the soil removed we would create a hill to have fun closer to the sun. What scale could these holes and hills have to better accommodate our winters and energize our summers?
Instead of erasing the snow as soon as it falls, let's rethink its collection in order to anchor it in the urban fabric! Characterized by its orthogonal blocks, the Montreal grid is dotted with alleys with a potential that is still underestimated... Gradually becoming privatized, these alleys are becoming the extension of Montrealers' gardens. What better way to celebrate the climate on a daily basis than to bring its specificities to all these gardens?
Let's take an example.
The wide alleys of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood lend themselves perfectly to the idea of bringing snow to the area so that the residents around them can harness its cold energy.
Today, these alleys are mostly occupied by parked cars and the necessary shelters that go with them. There is no room for play, vegetation is lacking and the winter sunshine is poor. By making the end of each property common, it is possible to widen the alley allowing for the excavation of an isolated snow tank under a parking lot.
Determining the volume of these tanks is easy. The public ground surrounding the average HoMa block is composed of 2062 m2 of streets, 1462 m2 of parking, 935m2 of alley, 837m2 of sidewalk for a total of 5296m2 of snow removal per block. Knowing that on average 2.17m of snow falls on Montreal each winter and that once collected this snow is compacted by half, we would have a potential of 5746.2m3 per block, which represents a volume of 20x20x14.3m to be excavated.
The excavation can be financed by the City as well as by a residents' association, and the excavation remains a low-cost affair since the moved soil is intended to form a hill on the site.
In winter, neighbors gather at the top, sunny for 5 hours a day, while their children skate on the garage roof. In the summer, the girls garden at the base of the hill while their grandmother watches them "cool" from the snow inside.
This investment in the daily landscape of Montrealers would pay off in four ways. First, through the added value of properties enjoying a redesigned yard, a revitalized landscape. Second, the cooling energy from the snow can be sold and the energy savings from switching to summer cooling. Third, the possibility of leasing the covered parking spaces suggests an income, another return on investment. Finally, a small-scale municipal snow removal plan that can be broken down and incrementally privatized (block by block) would reduce the number of snow removal truck trips to the current snow chutes.
Let's make snow a resource we need in the summer by introducing, at the heart of the Montreal grid, the specificities of the St-Lawrence Valley climate, not a northern climate, but a winter climate whose extremes have the potential to complement each other.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The jury selected this proposal for its relevance and intelligence; taking advantage of the extreme temperature differences between winter and summer has an under-exploited potential for climate regulation. Indeed, this proposal suggests "harvesting" and conserving snow underground, as an energy resource, rather than considering it as a waste product.
Starting from a simple and ancient logic, the idea has been updated and put into perspective with the current concerns and objectives of sustainable development and enlightened resource management.
The proposal has been put into perspective with the creation of an outdoor public space, in this case in the interior of a block, but the jury would like to emphasize above all the design mechanism, an ingenious system that could change everyday life and be implemented in various forms in the city.
The jury emphasized the clarity and efficiency of the development of the idea.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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