Making UBC a sustainable community includes setting high standards for its residential developments. The Residential Environmental Assessment Program (REAP) is a comprehensive green building rating system, developed by UBC, for mandatory application to all residential construction on the Vancouver campus.

ABOUT

UBC designed REAP so it could be applied to all residential buildings planned for the Vancouver campus. REAP is unique amongst green building rating systems, since it’s a single system that can be applied to both low and high-rise buildings.

REAP ensures lower consumption of water, energy and resources, higher-quality indoor environments and construction practices that have lower impacts on both the building site and the larger community. Homes built at UBC outperform similar construction in the Metro Vancouver region.

REAP awards points in seven performance categories:

1. Sustainable Sites
2. Water Efficiency
3. Energy and Atmosphere
4. Materials and Resources
5. Construction
6. Indoor Environmental Quality
7. Innovation and Design

All residential developers at UBC are required to apply REAP standards to their projects, but can choose their level of performance. After meeting all the mandatory measures, developers select from the wide range of optional measures in any performance category to earn one of five REAP ratings:

• Basic Compliance
• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum

HISTORY

When the planning process for UTown@UBC began, there were no green building rating systems on the market that could be applied to all the types of residential buildings planned for UBC. Working in collaboration, UBC Properties Trust, UBC Architecture professor Dr. Ray Cole and his students, Campus & Community Planning, and the UBC Sustainability Office developed REAP. The program is modeled after the US Green Building Council’s LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, but is easier to use and costs less for the developer.

UBC released REAP Version 2.1, an update to Version 2.0, in July 2009. The updates respond to changes to the building codes for the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, and were necessary to ensure that new residential construction at UBC continues to outperform similar construction in the region. See the REAP Reference Guide for a list of the changes, and download the REAP checklist.

CALL TO ACTION
View the virtual campus tour and explore REAP projects.