How We Planned to Help with Affordable Housing in Toronto — TKS x Sidewalk Labs

Toronto has an affordable housing crisis.

A key factor in all of this is utility fees.

Low-Income individuals and families alike are struggling to keep up with the costs of owning/renting a home. Some are able to afford the up-front cost, but then can’t afford the monthly costs associated with owning/renting in Toronto. Electricity costs in Toronto for large consumers (such as condos) compared to the rest of Canada are 65% more. Following a similar trend, water costs in Toronto are on average 83% more than the rest of Canada. There’s so much demand for resources like water and electricity, but not enough of it to go around — thus raising prices to enormous amounts.

TKS teamed up with Sidewalk labs to help lower the overall cost of living in Toronto, and we were lucky enough to go down to their headquarters in downtown to pitch our recommendations to help create a more affordable Toronto.

We wanted to focus on two things as a group: electricity and water costs.

Electricity Prices

The Cost of Electricity is Rising.

In Ontario, private and public entities have been changing the sources of power for many years. These modifications and several other factors result in the price of electricity constantly increasing. More recently, according to a Fraser Institute Study, Toronto saw a 5% rise in prices within a year between April 2018 and April 2019

With new innovative technologies and a smart city, a top priority should be modifying the source of power to a more sustainable and cheaper one.

Recommendation #1: Kinetic Pavements

Pavegen is an emerging company that has recently penetrated the sustainable energy industry. They’ve implemented their plans across the globe in places like London Heathrow Airport and Washington D.C. By using kinetic paving, sidewalk labs could subsidize the costs of power from the grid with the power from pedestrian footsteps.

Sustainable Energy: Kinetic Paving is a clean source of energy that doesn’t emit carbon emissions.

High Chance of Access: With Sidewalk Labs’ new implementation of public areas and community centers, this would be the perfect addition to maximize the community’s potential for sustainable energy.

Great Opportunity: There is a bulk of opportunity for Sidewalk Labs to utilize this method. Please view the next sections to view what the existing Quayside project has to complement the solution.

Increased Outdoor Pedestrian Zones

Sidewalk Labs is planning to implement approximately 1,920 square meters of sidewalk and pedestrian zones. By allocating a large area to walkable areas, it will encourage active living and transportation. With about 1/10 trips having the ability to be made my walk, it has a huge potential to be capitalized on.

Increased Indoor Non-Residential Space

Many condo projects introduce residential spaces coupled with a few community sites where all the members can come together. However, the Quayside project plans to use 33% of the indoor space as either, retail, community, or other non-residential purposes. Quayside wouldn’t only be a residential space, but a center where residents can work together and buy any belongings inside the buildings.

Water Costs

Water is cheap, but not cheap enough.

In Canada, the average 4-person household spends around $33.18 per month on water bills. In the GTA, it ranges from $125–200, an 83% increase compared to the rest of the country.

This is due to the fact that there’s so much more demand for water in the Greater Toronto Area — that means more treatment plants, more pipes, and more sewage systems that have its cost sent down to consumers.

Having new technology like permeable pavements that allows treatment and water collection to be done together, and much easier — allows a city to bring the overall net-cost for water close to zero for a specific area with permeable pavements.

Rainwater is being Wasted.

Our sewage systems don’t collect as much water as they should. Not all water on roads flows into the small sewage gaps on the side of the road to be collected for treatment. The rainwater that does flow through then has to go through the treatment process since it’s been mixed with different chemicals via the sewage water.

Yes, rainwater does have to be filtered, but it does not have to go through such a long and thorough process as sewage water does. Having a way to absorb rainwater as soon as it makes contact, and have it filtered right after will eliminate the need for the many treatment plants that cost the city millions of dollars a year.

Recommendation #2: Permeable Asphalt

Tarmac is an emerging company that is working on a new building material called Topmix Permeable, a fast-draining asphalt, that can absorb up to 1,000 liters of water per minute per square meter. The asphalt has several layers underneath that filter water, so it only has to go through minimal treatment before going into homes.

66% more water absorbed per square meter: Permeable Pavements allow for 66% more water collection compared to regular sewage systems on today’s roads.

Cheaper than regular concrete in the long-term: Over 25 years, permeable asphalt saves over $64,000 compared to regular asphalt

Filters Water before reaching the treatment plant: Permeable Pavements have multiple sub-layers under the top layer of asphalt that filters

Over a 25 year period, permeable asphalt saves about $64 650 per square meter compared to regular asphalt. There’s a more upfront cost to permeable pavements, but it then does not have to be maintained as vigorously as regular asphalt, thus making it a lot cheaper in the long run. With all the extra water that permeable asphalt allows through, the city does not have to rely on the lake anymore for water — they can use the cleaner water falling from the sky, and have it treated via the asphalt, which has multiple sub-layers that filter the water before it’s collected and sent through a pipe.

No ice formation: Since water and precipitation seep through the pavement, there won’t be any ice formation. Moreover, the pores store heat and release it to the surface promoting the melting of ice. This is important because it implies a reduction in road salt which is very hard to treat when mixed with water.

Better Cost-benefit relationship: Low maintenance with equal life expectancy of about 20-40 years like that of regular concrete

Greater development area: Permeable concrete eliminates the need for many installations involved in regular water collection methods. Pollutants are filtered through rock drainage areas, therefore, no need for water treatment facilities or retention basins.

Outcome

With unaffordable utility bills on utilities such as energy, the cost of these utilities is skyrocketing. Decreasing the average cost of living by 10 % through integrating kinetic pavements allows those in poverty to afford, and live in homes. And through permeable pavements, it would decrease the cost of living by 5 %. Current drainage systems are extremely inefficient and crazy expensive water utility bills are a large part of the problem. Designing effective sidewalks that can filter water efficiently can save people tons of money every year.

Sadly, the Sidewalk Labs Quayside project is no more. After public outlash at the project due to many concerns with privacy and other of various things, Sidewalk Labs’ parent company, Alphabet decided to call it quits. We are still grateful to have gotten the opportunity to work with everyone there, and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

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Be sure to check out Ahash Ganeshamoorthy, Shivani Srinivasan, and Rishab Chakraborty, who also worked with me on the project.