"Okotoks can fairly call itself the greenest community in Canada, maybe the world."
– Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
The Drake Landing Solar Community, in Okotoks, Alberta has reached a highly commendable and very remarkable milestone in passive solar house design, blending geothermal heating in the summertime with year-round solar water heating. That may read like a mouthful but, in short, this 52-home solar community in Central Canada soaks up heat in the summer and uses it to keep families warm in the winter while using just the tiniest fraction of grid power and natural gas versus what it would through conventional design.
Now, we’re talking!
While not 100% green, I bestow upon the Drake Landing Solar Community my highest commendation for ingenuity and carbon footprint reduction. Prime Minister Harper is correct. The Drake Landing Solar Community is the greenest community in Canada and perhaps the world!
When skeptics say that we must expand our options for geological exploration of fossil fuels, the environmental community can point to wonderful developments such as Drake Landing and bellow: “Do you see? Passive solar house design works even in cold climates. We can move away from fossil fuels today. There’s no reason to wait!”
Seeing is believing and now, skeptics of every stripe can travel to the Drake Landing Solar Community to take a tour and see just how effective the combination of geothermal heating and solar water heating can be. They had better knock first, though, because the 52 units sold out long before construction was complete.
To learn more about the Drake Landing Solar Community’s novel combination of geothermal heating and solar water heating, please visit
Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line
Corbett Kroehler
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