On the outside, the new house just east of Edmonton in Sherwood Park looks like any other Canadian suburban home.
But inside, the home’s state-of-the-art furnace is fueled not by the Alberta norm of natural gas, but by pure hydrogen — making it the first of its kind in Canada.
Built as a demonstration and open to the public for tours, “HomeOne” aims to show that hydrogen gas can be used safely and effectively for heating buildings, while also being part of the clean energy transition.
The home is a joint project between electricity and natural gas utility company Atco and residential developer Qualico, who say their ultimate goal is to have all of the 37,000 homes in Qualico’s proposed future Sherwood Park community of Bremner heated by pure hydrogen.
“We hear from our builders that there is a great deal of (public) interest in low-carbon living,” said Brad Armstrong, …