Sustainability Scholars Program

The report explores passive and active technical options to retrofit Strata residential buildings in response to a warming climate. Split heat pumps are found to be the most appropriate to add cooling infrastructure as well as being a lower carbon form of heating. Sources of policy barriers and knowledge gaps are also explored with recommendations that ultimately reduce these barriers.

Partner: UBC Sustainability & Engineering
Funder: BC Hydro
Keyword: green buildings, climate change resiliency

This project maps ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, water quantity and quality), identifies potential new Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory (SEI) polygons, and describes the policy landscape of the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. Our analyses, including policy implications and recommendations for future research, will inform an updated Natures Without Borders document, which is a conservation strategy often consulted by municipal planners in their decision-making and land use planning.

Partner: Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT)
Funder: UBC
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, water

The overarching aim of this project was to characterize human and environmental health concerns associated with ingredients in skincare products used in healthcare facilities in BC. An inventory containing, for example, ingredient identifiers, ingredient composition, and a health hazard/risk ranking scheme was developed to support a systematic and structured characterization of the health concerns.

Partner: Vancouver Coastal Health
Funder: Vancouver Coastal Health
Keywords: Skincare ingredients, Human and Environmental health concerns

This project aimed to estimate the carbon sequestration, pollution removal, and stormwater attenuation of existing public urban forests of the City of Victoria using the iTree Eco model in anticipation of the potential effects of climate change. It includes recommendations for improving carbon stocks in different species and communities and increase of green structures for stormwater runoff.  It also explore the scope of Lidar data and the iTree Hydro model for stormwater studies.

Partner: Corporation of the City of Victoria
Funder: Corporation of the City of Victoria
Keywords: urban forestry

This research engaged with the residential energy management sector in BC. Indigenous housing societies in BC require the right resources to make their homes energy efficient and net zero. This piece of work aims to contribute to educational capacity-building by exploring training opportunities, from building construction to asset management, and how they can be improved to cater to the needs of Indigenous communities better.

Partner: Aboriginal Housing Management Association
Funder: BC Hydro
Keywords: green buildings, leadership & behaviour change, sustainability in education

These factsheets summarize some of the information compiled during an extensive literature review and technical report prepared for the Tŝilhqot'in National Government. They outline the characteristics, uses of, and challenges associated with biochar. This information was compiled to help inform resource management decisions within the Tŝilhqot'in Territory, and particularly to understand if biochar could be utilized to support and/or increase forestry productivity.

Partner: Tŝilhqot'in National Government (TNG) 
Funder: UBC
Keywords: food systems, forest systems, soil 

This project aims to visually communicate the importance of restoration work for the health of the Lower Fraser River. Graphic renderings raise awareness, generate public support and motivate investors, making them useful tools for achieving ecological enhancement.  By visualizing the creation of "North Arm Intertidal Habitat Park" this project examines the importance of tidal marsh habitat, and proposes an opportunity for its restoration and protection within the Fraser River Estuary.

Partner: Rivershed Society of BC
Funder: UBC (Sitka Foundation)
Keywords: biodiversity, ecological systems, restoration

In response to the need for research highlighting the importance of urban agriculture (UA) in BC, as well as to guide future policies surrounding UA in the province, this project identified and defined current UA initiatives in BC. This report categorizes 373 UA initiatives in the province according to location, type of initiative (e.g., community garden), land ownership, and educational component (if present), and provides recommendations for future research. 

Partner: Public Health Association of BC
Funder: UBC
Keywords: food systems, social sustainability, sustainable development & green economy

This report explores the relationship between street and sidewalk pavement rehabilitation and their impacts on the urban forest. Trees are a powerful tool for combatting extreme heat, but street trees are often grown in constrained environments. Streets in need of rehabilitation or replacement are identified, and the report asks whether those streets can serve other ecological functions that contribute to the City of Vancouver's Climate Emergency Action Plan targets.

Partner: City of Vancouver
Funder: City of Vancouver & UBC 
Keywords: climate adaptation, climate mitigation, green infrastructure, biodiversity, ecological systems, transportation