The classroom in open air: Outdoor environmental learning in Vancouver parks

This project investigates how K–12 educators within the Vancouver School Board use the City’s parks and what actions the Park Board and its community partners could take to support their efforts. The study examined which schools and grade levels use the parks, which parks are used most often, which subjects are taught in parks and what kinds of activities occur.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: access to nature, healthy city, ecological systems

Ecological Systems
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Naomi Reichstein

Developing a Tailpipe Emissions Inventory for Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxides from the City’s Fleet

The purpose of this project was to construct an inventory of tailpipe emissions (specifically, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides) from the City of Vancouver’s fleet based on applicable emission standards from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and COV fleet fuel usage data from 2015 to 2017. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Stephen (Wenhao) Chen

Local Industrial and Commercial Applications for On-Site Alternative Water Systems

This project assembled a toolkit for industrial and commercial on-site use of alternative water sources (rainwater, stormwater, greywater, foundational water, or steam condensate). The toolkit includes current regulations, commercially available systems, steps for system setup, and local case studies. The resources included are based on interviews with local subject experts and businesses, to assess the common water sources, potential water uses, and benefits and obstacles to using nonpotable water for industrial applications.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: clean water, waste management & recycling

Natural Resources
Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Emily Mistick

Water Benchmarking Study: Restaurants & Microbreweries in the City of Vancouver

This project is a collaboration between the Engineering Department and Real Estate Department at the City of Vancouver to gain a better understanding of the typical water use of restaurants and microbreweries. This project aims to support the Greenest City Action Plan’s goal in reducing water consumption by 2020. This report will also be used by the Real Estate Department in determining water operating costs in their tenant lease agreements. This project report summarizes the methodologies used and findings of the water benchmarking study.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: food systems, sustainable development & green economy, water

Natural Resources
Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Kamonchanok Sirikan

Water Conservation and Irrigation in Vancouver Parks: Insights into Turf and Horticulture Irrigation

An emerging priority has been to review water use by irrigation in Vancouver. This project follows suit by analyzing water use through irrigation on sports fields and in gardens. Throughout the project, we analyzed water use to identify key drivers of water use, compare methods of watering and find areas of improvement. We also developed a benchmark for sports fields to identify high water users and provide information to better assess the total water usage by Vancouver Parks. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: water, clean water

Natural Resources
Production, Consumption & Waste
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Gillian Fuss

Research Local High Performance Building Supply for New Low Rise Homes

The objective of this project was to investigate the local supply market of three key components in buildings, namely windows, Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV’s), and Heat Pump (HP) systems in terms of capacity and gaps of higher efficiency models. The output of this work will assist the City of Vancouver in implementing an effective update to the City of Vancouver Building Bylaw (VBBL) to lower greenhouse gases.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, green buildings

Built Environment & Mobility
Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Arash Shadkam

Green Infrastructure in the Flats: Identifying Opportunities for Private Sector Participation

This report builds upon the existing research and engagement work in the False Creek Flats and identifies strategies and opportunities for private sector investment in green infrastructure and green technologies along the Walk-the-Line corridor. This report seeks to understand how green infrastructure is perceived by the business community in the False Creek Flats, including the barriers to green investments and  the drivers for current or planned green initiatives and projects. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: access to nature, sustainable development & green economy, green buildings

Built Environment & Mobility
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Alicia Kingdon

Application of Stormwater Tree Trenches in the City of Vancouver

Stormwater Tree Trenches (STT) are a versatile green infrastructure (GI) technology that shows promising application in Vancouver’s highly dense urban environment. This project explores how STT align with the targets set by the Citywide Integrated Rainwater Management Plan (IRMP) and examines the life cycle cost of a boulevard reconstruction project.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: clean water, green buildings, water

Built Environment & Mobility
Ecological Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Osvaldo Vega

Reducing Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation Emission Footprint through Utilizing Electric Small Equipment

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (Park Board) is aiming to reduce carbon dependency by exploring the feasibility of switching from gas-powered to electric equipment. This project intends to evaluate the technical and economic benefits of adopting small electric equipment for the Park Board and the community. Other benefits include reducing the harmful health impacts caused by equipment noise, exhaust and hand arm vibration.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
Data & Technology
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Gerardo Marquez

Green Policing: Recommended Actions for an Environmental Sustainability Plan for the Vancouver Police Department

This report recommends actions that can be taken to improve the environmental sustainability of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). A broad scan of the literature was conducted to identify best practices and assist in the development of a long-term environmental sustainability plan for the VPD that aligns with the corporate sustainability goals of the City of Vancouver. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, leadership & behaviour change, waste management & recycling

Built Environment & Mobility
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Jordan Konyk

Land Values and Transit Investment: Case Studies and Analysis for the Broadway Corridor

In anticipation of the Millennium Line Broadway Extension and a new Broadway land use plan, this report explores case studies on the effects of transit investment on land values and the ways in which local governments around the world capture uplift as a result of transit investment. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Devon Harlos

Supporting Carshare Vehicles for the City of Vancouver: Benefits of Corporate Carshare

The objectives of this project are to analyze and interpret the financial, environmental, and community-wide implications of Corporate Carsharing. A previous report suggested that Corporate Carsharing would be approximately as financially viable as allowing employees to travel in departmentally assigned vehicles on a department-to-department basis, the old status quo. The Report also suggested there would be strong environmental, social, and community benefits of the Corporate Carsharing program. This project aims to discern whether these benefits have been realized.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green transportation, sustainable development & green economy

Built Environment & Mobility
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Rainer Lempert

Supporting Carshare Vehicles in the City of Vancouver: North American Parking Policies

The objectives of this project are to undertake a review of emerging best practice examples from cities around North America on carshare parking policies. Policies such as ending trips at on-street meters, off-street parking requirements, and parking relaxations and incentives for publically-available car share vehicles are reviewed.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: green transportation, sustainable development & green economy

Built Environment & Mobility
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Rainer Lempert

Solutions Lab Community of Practice Learning Plan 2018-2019

This document serves as a guide for the City of Vancouer's Solutions Lab Community of Practice (SLab CoP) as it continues to evolve in 2018/2019. The plan for building practices and nurturing community has been informed by the first three sessions prototyped in Summer of 2018 and input gathered from current core group members of the CoP.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability, sustainability in education

Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Lily Raphael

Cross-Sector Collaboration: Wise Practices to Inform the Collaborative Development of the Next Healthy City Action Plan

This goal of this report is to shed light on wise practices that can serve to inform the collaborative development of the next Healthy City Action Plan. The research approach involved a literature review of cross-sector collaboration as well as learning from three precedent models by reviewing their approaches to governance, finance, implementation, and evaluation.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, leadership & behaviour change

Human Well-being & Social Systems
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Emily Morales

CIRES Web Map Application Design Overview

The purpose of this project is to assist the Community Impact Real Estate Society (CIRES) in developing an efficient and updateable geospatial dataset that establishes a baseline of space, uses, and metrics for its retail portfolio. This report provides an overview of how the CIRES Web Map application was created. It also includes a summary of the data collection process, how the data is analyzed, the web application widget choices as well as some of the challenges and decision-making points throughout the project.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, green buildings, social sustainability

Data & Technology
Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Natalie Chan Ho Man

Potential Uses of a Downtown Eastside facility

The City of Vancouver has a lease agreement until 2026 for a facility that will soon be vacated. As the facility possesses a commercial kitchen and is located within the Downtown Eastside, there is a unique opportunity to help develop options to serve community needs and advance the City’s social policy goals. The focus of this report is an assessment of the challenges and opportunities associated with the facility, as well as potential uses and tenants.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: healthy city, leadership & behaviour change, social sustainability

Human Well-being & Social Systems
Policy, Economics & Governance
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Kendall Andison

Workplace Childcare: Discovering what really works for Vancouver children, families, and employers

This report explores best practices in workplace-based childcare and how they might be supported by the City of Vancouver. The review provides information on operating models; facility siting and design; supply and demand; employer partnerships; as well as other criteria that pertain to workplace childcare. It aims to provide preliminary considerations to the City of Vancouver as it develops policy for quality, non-profit workplace childcare.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: social sustainability

Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Jacqueline Hunter

Indigenous Wellness Indicators: Including Urban Indigenous Wellness Indicators in the Healthy City Strategy

Indigenous concepts of wellness are distinct from western notions of wellness, and are unique to each Indigenous community’s respective worldview. As such, there is a growing recognition of the need for indicators that reflect Indigenous notions of wellness This project focuses on how to develop strengths-based, culturally relevant Indigenous wellness indicators for the City of Vancouver’s Healthy City Strategy in collaboration with the urban Indigenous community.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: social sustainability

Human Well-being & Social Systems
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Kathleen Heggie

Lifecycle Analysis of Electric Vehicles

The City of Vancouver has an extensive fleet of vehicles. Due to the significant impact of transportation on total greenhouse gas emissions across the region, the City wants to reduce this impact by replacing more internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in its fleet with electric vehicles (EVs). This study uses life cycle analysis to comparatively analyze two vehicle models of similar size of each type (ICEV and EV) currently used in the City’s fleet. 

Partner: City of Vancouver
Keywords: lighter footprint, transportation

Built Environment & Mobility
Climate Change & Energy
UBC Sustainability Scholars report
PDF
2018
Balpreet Kukreja

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