Sustainability Scholars Program

This toolkit offers organizations a practical guide to delivering homeowner retrofit workshops. Drawing on four Richmond workshops, it shows how interactive, participant-centred programming builds knowledge and confidence around energy upgrades. With 100 registrations and 46 participants, 90% of survey respondents reported learning a lot. Recommendations include multilingual resources, continued homeowner and expert involvement, and ongoing evaluation to support climate goals.

Partner: City of Richmond
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: climate mitigation, green buildings, low carbon buildings, sustainability education 

This project explored the potential for a home flood resilience program in Maple Ridge. The program would help homeowners reduce their flood vulnerability through education, home assessments, and incentives for retrofits. The report first reviews best practices and analyses Maple Ridge's regulatory, funding, partnership, and organisational context. It then provides a roadmap to inform City decision-making and, should the City proceed, outlines the key actions involved in developing the program.

Partner: City of Maple Ridge
Funder: City of Maple Ridge
Keywords: climate adaptation, climate resilience, land use planning, water 

This project aims to strengthen the reuse markets for construction and demolition materials, with a focus on wood, to advance the circular economy in Metro Vancouver. Includes an assessment of barriers to wood reuse, potential opportunities to support wood recovery and regional market development, and priority actions that align with the goals of Metro Vancouver's draft Solid Waste Management Plan.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: waste management & recycling, reuse, circular economy

This geospatial project maps how natural ecosystems upstream of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley reduce downstream flood risk. It adapts a national-scale flood-attenuation model to the Lower Fraser at eight times finer resolution, links runoff retention to flood-exposed communities, and ranks watersheds by realized benefit. The project delivers a reproducible spatial workflow, data package, interactive web map, and technical report to support regional planning in the Lower Mainland.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: climate adaptation, land use planning, ecosystem services, flood adaptation

This project investigates electrical panel sizing practices in newly constructed Part 9 residential homes in New Westminster, BC, to support efficient residential electrification. It examines current panel sizing trends, evaluates their alignment with efficient electrification goals, and identifies key challenges and opportunities for appropriately sizing electrical panels in new homes. The study combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative insights from expert interviews.

Partner: City of New Westminster
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: low carbon buildings, efficient new home electrification, electrical panel sizing

This project examines the role and value of environmental education, research, and community stewardship in Burnaby. It draws on interviews with key interest holders including: City staff, stewardship organizations, educational institutions, municipalities, and other partners, as well as targeted literature and case study research. Findings identify key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting environmental education, research and stewardship, and explore potential approaches. Partner: City of Burnaby Funder: City of Burnaby Keywords: climate resilience, social sustainability, sustainability in education, community stewardship

This project developed 23 sustainability and climate resilience key performance indicators for BC Housing's DASH platform, which accelerates standardized, prefabricated housing delivery. Drawing on a literature review, jurisdictional scan, and staff interviews, indicators were organized into five categories. These are prioritized by feasibility and impact, giving BC Housing a sequenced, evidence-based path for tracking DASH's environmental and climate performance.

Partner: BC Housing
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: climate resilience, climate mitigation, green buildings, low carbon buildings 

This project evaluates EV charging strategies for Metro Vancouver Water Services to support a cost-effective lower-carbon fleet. It develops a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis tool that compares facility-owned, public, and home charging options while accounting for infrastructure costs, operating expenses, incentives, uncertainty, charging capacity, and GHG savings. The project also reviews funding opportunities and policies that could support future investment decisions across Metro Vancouver.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: green buildings, sustainable development & green economy, transportation, zero emission vehicles, EV charging infrastructure 

This project reviewed and assessed validation techniques for evaluating remote emission sensing of diesel medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Remote sensing can support fleet assessment, policy evaluation, and the identification of potential high emitters. The report includes a literature review of validation techniques, associated challenges and solutions, and best practices and recommendations for conducting remote sensing campaigns for diesel medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Partner: Metro Vancouver
Funder: Metro Vancouver
Keywords: transportation, remote emission sensing, diesel trucks, emission measurement techniques, measurement validation techniques