Heat wave prompts unusual demand to retrofit buildings with air conditioning
Apparently, it wasn’t hot enough over the past few days at Linden Tree Place in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. Instead of fresh cool air filling the hallways, there was a hot blast of air coming out of the hallway ventilation system that residents say increased the temperatures to between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius.
“It was terrible,” said Terry LeBlanc.
LeBlanc is in a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury and says his body has difficulty cooling off.
Evelyn Legault has multiple sclerosis and a spinal injury too.
“It’s not been very good at all,” she said.
Ann Wight struggled as well.
“I took lots of cold showers actually,” Wight said.
And Catherine Stafford, whose apartment sits right across from one of the heat blasting vents, couldn’t even stay in her unit. Someone paid her to go to a hotel.
“Very difficult. It’s been really hard,” Stafford explained.
BC Housing and the Association of Neighborhood Houses BC run the building.
Stafford said it took some pressure to get any action at all. At first, she says the property manager told her to put a wet towel in front of the hallway vent outside her door to cool the air.
She says it dried out in two minutes. There was air conditioning in the building but it was in the locked common room, which was off limits because of COVID-19.
“We broke in,” Stafford joked. However, they did get a key.
“We don’t care we’re not supposed to be in here, we need to save ourselves,” she said.
The building is full of residents over 55 years of age who need care and are the most vulnerable to heat.
“It was by far the worst I’ve seen it and I’ve been here 10 years,” said LeBlanc.
The hallway pressurization system, which fills the halls with fresh air, pulls the air from the rooftop, the hottest place in the building.
On Wednesday, the folks managing the building sent an air conditioning specialist to assess the situation and while there, they replaced the air filters. They appeared ripped and torn and the date on the filters was December 2019, indicating they hadn’t been replaced in years.
CTV News reached out to the non-profit and BC Housing for comment.
Liz Lougheed, CEO of the Association of Neighborhood Houses BC wrote in an email, “We agree that this is an important issue. We’re working on getting some information to you as quickly as possible.”
Heating and cooling specialists are bombarded with requests for retrofit buildings with air conditioning.
Sam Paxton is a sales engineer for Airstream Heating and Air Conditioning in Burnaby. The company installs residential and commercial systems, and Paxton said over the last few days the workload has sharply increased with technicians working around the clock.
Paxton has been fielding requests from property managers, building owners and strata organizations looking to retrofit with cooling systems before the next heat wave hits us.
“It can be done but just the sheer demand we’ve been dealing with has just made it an incredible challenge, to be honest, we’ve never faced before.”
In addition, it can be costly, especially for subsidized housing and non-profit organizations but the residents at Linden Tree Place say it cannot wait.
“They send men to the moon so they can certainly get air conditioning in here,” said Wight.
“We’re lucky somebody didn’t die here,” added Stafford. “It’s just going to get worse.
BC Housing is looking at the bigger issuing writing in an email to CTV News,"BC Housing is working closely with the non-profit operator, Association of Neighbourhood Houses of British Columbia, to ensure temporary and long-term solutions are in place that will keep residents safe during the heatwave.nto talk about the bigger issue and the cost of retrofitting buildings housing elderly and disabled seniors."
The agency says retrofitting existing buildings is not always feasible, however BC Housing will discuss long-term options with the operator.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Live updates as Stormy Daniels testifies at Trump hush money trial
Adult film star Stormy Daniels will take the stand a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s hush money case continues in Manhattan. Follow live updates here.
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
Defence attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defence tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor's salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
With contactless screening tech, this Toronto startup hopes to catch breast cancer early — and save lives
Amid evidence of rising breast cancer rates among young women in Canada, one Toronto startup is offering a contactless and radiation-free device that can help doctors identify suspicious changes in breast tissue. The company, Linda Lifetech, says this can lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.
Tornadoes tear through southeastern U.S. as storms leave 3 dead
Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could wash over parts of the South early Thursday, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes and large hail killed at least three people in the region.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.