Sustainable builder spearheading unique commercial project in Trenton

A vehicle rental franchise in Trenton is having a new office built with the help of a Canadian sustainable construction company.

National Car Rental is constructing a 2000 sq. foot building at its Creelman Avenue location that will include two car wash bays, offices, a reception room, meeting spaces and a staff area.

It’s being constructed by CABN, a Brockville company focussed on a sustainable, net-zero building model.

The company, established in 2021 is building, high-performance prefabricated homes, but has branched out to commercial building with its CABN WARE.HOUSE plan.

Much of the construction happens at the company’s 93,000 square foot Brockville manufacturing facility before its shipped to site.

CABN Chief Operating Officer Alex Kelly says the Trenton project sets a new standard for efficiency and renewable energy integration.

“So, all of our buildings actually generate more energy than they consume. And we also look at all of our sustainability metrics from the design to the material selection to the build to reduce our impacts in terms of, in terms of environmental impacts.”

The Trenton building will feature a dramatically sloped roof to support a 27,000-watt solar array along with battery storage.

It will be mainly comprised of cross-laminated timber, a sustainable wood panel system.

“And so when our building actually came together, it was a series of panels, about 20, 25 panels that were craned into position and screwed into place. And what you have there is a really strong, sturdy structure. But the interior walls, it’s a beautiful wood finish on the inside.”

Heating and cooling is provided by a heat pump.

Being a Canadian Company, Kelly says they’ve taken great care to make sure all components can handle extreme weather conditions.

Their units use about 20 per cent of the energy that a traditional home or building does.

“And why that’s important is that we don’t have those, those heat pumps and the mechanical systems ticking on as much because the house is actually so phenomenally well insulated and the same falls true for our commercial buildings. So phenomenally well insulated that we only see those heating and even air conditioning in the summer, ticking on about eight per cent of the year.”

That is supplemented by triple pane glazed windows and doors that help to manage that energy.

Kelly says the prefabrication means they can build faster than traditional construction and work all year round.

She says this helps keep costs on par or less than traditional construction.

CABN was founded by Jackson Wyatt in 2021, a social entrepreneur who previously headed a compostable goods company.

Housing units have been sold across North America.

The company has a show home in Mallorytown.

Kelly says construction branched out from residential as people began asking them for a sustainable solution to traditional commercial building.

Other planned commercial construction for CABN includes an art gallery in Vancouver and a building to store agricultural equipment in California.

She says their system can really help address the housing shortage, building homes quickly and affordably.

Construction on the National Car Rental facility began February 3 with completion set for early spring.

More on CABN here.