Green spaces for demonstrating, learning and working
UBC demonstrates both institutional and residential green building practices on campus, as well as a green renovations project. Sustainable building practices are integrated directly into UBC’s Technical Guidelines and UBC showcases a number of high-performance buildings.
If you are interested in visiting green buildings, some of UBC’s buildings are open to the public as part of the UBC Sustainability Offices’s (SO) Green Building Tour program.
Green Buildings
UBC made early, significant contributions to the fledgling green building industry with the C.K. Choi Building in 1996 and the Liu Centre in 2000. Since the development of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), other green buildings like the Life Sciences Centre (2004) and AERL (2006) have been built to showcase green building practises.
1996: CK Choi Institute of Asian Researh
UBC's first green building, the CK Choi, features approaches to reducing energy, water and resource use that were unprecedented at the time. Built before LEED green building standards were in place, this 3000m2 building set new green building benchmarks. It maintains its presence as a high-performance, innovative building and continues to draw a great deal of interest from green building professionals and the public.
Highlights include:
- composting toilets that save more than 1,000 litres of water per day
- a plant-based greywater recycling system that processes compost tea from the toilets and waste water from kitchen and bathroom sinks
- 50 percent reused or recycled materials
- 100 percent natural ventilation
- overall energy use 23 percent below a comparable building
- energy efficiency features save 6.4 million kWh, 1000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and about $180,000 annually in current utility rates
Awards:
- 1995 Progressive Architecture Award for Green Architecture
- 1996 Earth Award from the Building Operators and Managers’ Association of BC
- 2000 Top Ten Green Buildings by the American Institute of Architects
More information:
"Process Makes Product: The CK Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia" (PDF Report)
2000: Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues
Among other green features, the Liu Centre is notable for the use of what is called "high-volume fly ash concrete." Fly ash, a waste material from coal-fired power plants, replaces cement in the concrete mix. This is an important innovation because the manufacture of cement in Vancouver produces almost as many greenhouse gas emissions as all of the city's vehicles combined.
Highlights include:
- commitment to retain significant trees on the site
- careful deconstruction of the existing building
- 93 percent of the demolition materials were diverted from landfill; salvaged materials were used to construct the Liu Centre and the remaining materials were sold or recycled
- 100 percent natural ventilation
- high-volume fly ash concrete,where 50 percent of the energy intensive cement was replaced with fly ash, a waste product from burning coal
- energy use 34 percent below a comparable building
Award:
- 2002 Earth Award from the Building Operators and Managers’ Association of BC
More information:
A Beautiful Space to Inspire Sustainable Solutions
2004: Life Sciences Centre
The largest post-secondary research facility in BC, the 52,167m2 Life Sciences Centre was also the largest building in Canada to earn LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council as of 2005. One of the first laboratory facilities in North America to be designed and constructed using principles of sustainability, the labs and office spaces capitalize on daylighting and views wherever possible, as do the two enclosed atria that house large study spaces.
Highlights include:
- water use reduction of 50 percent as compared to conventional construction
- 80 percent of construction waste was recycled or salvaged
- energy use reduction of 30 percent below a comparable building
- emphasis on the use of local building materials manufactured within a 500-mile radius
- 87.5 percent native or adapted plantings around the building
Awards include:
- 2005 Building Owners and Managers Association Earth Award
- 2005 Illuminating Engineering Society of North America in Energy and Environmental Design Award
- 2005 Northwest Wall and Ceiling Bureau Building of the Year (Commercial Interior)
- 2005 Consulting Engineers of BC Engineering Excellence Award of Merit
More information: Life Sciences Case Study
2006: Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory
The Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL), a 6000 m2 facility that houses three distinct research units, was awarded LEED Gold in 2008.
Highlights include:
- AERL is organized around a central atrium that provides natural ventilation via thermal stack effect and allows daylight to enter deep into the building
- saves approximately 301.3 MWh of energy and reduces the amount of equivalent CO2 by 40.5 percent per year
- extensive use of low volatile organic compound products including adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets and urea-formaldehyde free cabinetry and countertops
- 77 percent of construction waste diverted from the landfill
- contains 24 percent recycled materials and 46% of all the materials used are regionally manufactured
Technology Enterprise Facility III & NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Research Buildings
Sustainable building practices have spread to buildings on campus that UBC does not own—the Technology Enterprise Facility III building was built independently and achieved LEED Silver certification and the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Research was certified LEED Gold by the US Green Building Council.
Buildings with Green Features
- The ICICS/Computer Science building features water-efficient landscaping and a mechanical system that uses a chilled slab for cooling and an effective ventilation system at a very low energy cost.
- The Michael Smith Building and the Fred Kaiser buildings both opened in 2005. These structures are built over existing buildings to optimize land use and preserve open space. Both buildings are using energy-efficient mechanical systems and high-performance glazing. Kaiser highlights the use of photovoltaic cells and new kinds of energy and electrical efficiency.
- The heritage core of the renovated Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, usually referred to as the Main Library, was preserved and the new portion of the building features a green system for air conditioning.
Articles
View "Process Makes Product: The CK Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia" (Report PDF)
Article in the Vancouver Courier - "A Constructive Idea"
http://www.iar.ubc.ca/choibuilding/gwill.html
"Seeing With New Eyes"
http://www.iar.ubc.ca/choibuilding/
The Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues:
A Beautiful Space to Inspire Sustainable Solutions
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