Okotoks, Alberta
The neighbourhood that heated winter with summer
On a quiet street just south of Calgary, 52 homes were warmed by sunshine that had been collected months earlier and parked underground. Drake Landing proved the idea could work in a prairie climate. This site tells how it was built, what it delivered, and how it came to an end.
See how it worked Quick answersA street built around the sun
Most solar heating stops being useful just when you need it. The sun is strongest in July, and the furnace runs hardest in January. Drake Landing set out to close that gap by keeping July's heat until it was wanted.
The plan came from Natural Resources Canada, which gathered a team of builders, engineers, a gas utility and the Town of Okotoks to try it on real homes with real families. Digging started in the spring of 2005. At the time nobody in North America had done it at this scale.
The goal was modest on paper and ambitious in practice: cover roughly nine-tenths of the homes' space heating with the sun, and cut about five tonnes of greenhouse gas per household each year.
The idea in four moves
The full walkthrough is on the how it works page. Here is the short version.
- Catch the sun 800 flat collectors on the garage roofs warmed a glycol loop all year, producing about 1.5 megawatts of heat on a good summer day.
- Hold it briefly The heat passed into two large water tanks in the Energy Centre, which acted as a buffer between the roofs, the ground and the houses.
- Bury it for the season From the tanks, hot water ran through 144 boreholes about 35 to 37 m deep, slowly warming the soil toward 80 °C by late summer.
- Bring it back in winter When it got cold the flow reversed. Warm water went out through buried pipes to each house, where a fan pushed air over a coil in the basement. A gas boiler stood by for the worst days.
What it actually achieved
The ground needed a few years to warm up, as the designers expected. After that, the numbers beat the plan. Monitoring reported that solar covered 97% of space heating by 2012, and in the 2015-2016 winter it reached 100%. That was the first time a community-scale system anywhere had done so, and it came decades ahead of the original simulations.
The homes helped. All 52 were built to the R-2000 standard and certified Built Green Alberta Gold, about 30% more efficient than a conventional house, so there was less heat to supply in the first place.
Recognition
- CanSIA Solar Thermal Project of the Year (2006 awards)
- FCM Sustainable Communities Award, Energy and Renewable Energy (2006)
- Alberta Emerald Award, Climate Change, to Sterling Homes (2006)
- LivCom Gold Award, Environmentally Sustainable Project (2005)
Where things stand now
Drake Landing is no longer running. Around 2020 the system began to show its age, and parts and repair knowledge got harder to find. Keeping it going would have needed more investment than the company and residents could carry. A decommissioning process began in 2024, and most of the 52 homes moved to ordinary natural gas furnaces.
What remains is the knowledge. Nearly two decades of measurements are a rare record of how seasonal storage behaves in a cold climate, and engineers still cite them when designing district heating for new neighbourhoods.
This site is an independent explainer and archive. For current ownership, property or site details, check with the Town of Okotoks or ATCO directly.
Quick answers
What was Drake Landing Solar Community?
A neighbourhood of 52 homes in Okotoks, about 15 minutes south of Calgary. It was the first major North American community heated with seasonally stored solar energy: collected in summer, held underground, used in winter.
How well did it work?
Better than planned. Solar covered 97% of space heating by 2012 and 100% in the 2015-2016 season, against a design target of about 90%.
How does underground heat storage work?
Rooftop collectors warm a glycol loop. In summer that heat is moved through buffer tanks into 144 boreholes, which warm the surrounding soil. In winter the flow reverses and the heat is piped to the homes.
Is it still operating?
No. Ageing equipment and the cost of upkeep led to decommissioning beginning in 2024, and most homes switched to conventional gas furnaces.
Who was behind it?
Natural Resources Canada led the project with the Town of Okotoks, United Communities, Sterling Homes, ATCO Gas and Enerworks. See the full partner list.