Perkins+Will, together with the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Boards of Parks and Recreation, celebrates the win of three Wood WORKS! BC awards at the 9th annual Wood Design Awards Gala. 

By Thomas Bevan

Sustainable here, go green there: these slogans dominate real estate brochures around our cities. But what do these statements actually mean with regards to the net impact of buildings on surrounding ecosystems? What evidence is there that supports these claims?

A first-of-its-kind clean energy project that will generate enough clean electricity to power 1,500 homes and reduce the University of British Columbia’s natural gas consumption by up to 12 per cent, received $11.2 million in new federal and provincial government funding at an official groundbreaking ceremony today.

UBC is breaking new ground in sustainability – both figuratively and literally. On January 27, President Stephen Toope announced the creation of an ambitious sustainability initiative at  UBC’s Vancouver campus that will promote and unite sustainability efforts in teaching and learning, research and campus operations.

“Sustainability is about what kind of world we want to live in,” says UBC’s John Robinson. If so, then the ambitious project he’s leading – the development of the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) – should provide some valuable inspiration. The $37-million building will be greenhouse gas-positive and a net energy producer, meaning that it will help UBC reduce the energy it uses and carbon it emits. All water will be sourced from rainwater, with wastewater treatment occurring on site.