UBC has committed to the integration of our operational and academic efforts in sustainability and the Sustainability Hub (formerly know as the UBC Sustainability Initiative), established in 2010, is our way of advancing this broad goal.

The Sustainability Hub undertakes key cross-cutting functions such as connector, curator and facilitator of a wide breadth of sustainability programs and activities across campus.

In partnership with many other groups, we help integrate and enhance sustainability themes into teaching, learning, and student engagement activities, support interdisciplinary urban research, advance regional and international engagement with sustainability partners, manage UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, and host the UBC office of the Pacific Institute of Climate Solutions.

Our name today reflects a stronger emphasis on engagement, and our goal to catalyze change for a just and sustainable world. Our five-year strategic plan outlines how we will activate our mission, "Inspiring people to act upon the planet’s most urgent challenges through UBC’s academic and operational sustainability leadership". ‍

Our building has three lives.

The first is as an existing single-family home on UBC’s campus. Third Quadrant will deconstruct and adaptively reuse materials and systems from this existing building to highlight the feasibility and need for reuse in today’s building market.

In its second life, Third Space Commons will serve as a net-zero energy and carbon single-family home for the Solar Decathlon competition. With a pandemic and a growing population, our build responds to the need for flexibility in everyday life through its live-work typology. The space itself is adaptable to the needs of a family during different times of the day.  Design decisions are guided by five key principles: carbon minimalism, circularity, flexibility, living lab, and resilience.

After the competition, the building will have a third life as a living lab and student-collaboration space for UBC students. The space’s flexibility will allow for both formal and informal interactions in the form of a classroom and commons area. Integrated building systems such as rainwater collection, mixed-mode ventilation, and smart controls ensure that students have a ‘living lab’ to learn about, experiment and test climate-resilient solutions.

The Bentall Centre

At 1.5 million square feet, Bentall Centre in downtown Vancouver affords a unique opportunity for the thousands who office there to reduce waste. 2019 brought changes to Bentall Centre’s recycling streams: coffee cups were classified as mixed containers instead of compost, and paper towels as compost instead of mixed paper. We needed to clearly communicate these changes, and we enlisted Bentall Centre’s Green Team—a group of property management and tenants who assist with sustainable initiatives. The Green Team hosted educational events coincident with Waste Reduction Week in each of Bentall Centre’s lobbies, visited a recycling plant, created easy reference posters and made adjustments to waste signage and bin placement within tenant spaces.

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YVR

In 2021, YVR became the first airport in Canada to announce its commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, representing a significant first step in the airport's climate action leadership role. YVR recognizes the bulk of Sea Island emissions (more than 95 per-cent) are related to aircraft movements, traffic and non-Airport Authority buildings, and although they are beyond the immediate scope of the airport's net-zero commitment, YVR is playing an outsized role to enable the reductions of all emissions. David McPhie, the Manager of Climate and Environment at YVR, will share how the airport is achieving its own net zero targets through its four decarbonization pathways, while also advancing the decarbonization of the industry overall by supporting the airport's partners on their journey to net zero carbon.

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Rising energy costs, poor energy efficiency in buildings, and a changing climate are having profound impacts on Canadians’ health and safety, along with our economy. We’re kicking off the conference by looking at the big picture related to Canada’s climate targets that will help to literally build resiliency into our future. We will hear about the targets and the associated plans, policies, and programs being put in place by the federal government to help drive progress toward the goal of net-zero by 2050. These changes will have lasting impacts on the spaces where we live, work, and play in cities and rural communities across Canada. Find out more about the critical roles that industry partners can play as we work to decarbonize and enhance the resilience of buildings in Canada.

During this session, we will cover a definition of ESG, the various kinds of ESG reporting regulations that are key to understand and pay attention to, as well as their specific impact on the real estate and construction industry. We will first lay out what data is required in each, and then discuss this at a simpler level so we can make it more relevant to your everyday job. We need all hands on deck during this transition, so it’s important for people across the various companies in a variety of positions to understand the importance of these and their impact on our industry. We will briefly discuss the history of ESG reporting requirements and why new additional government requirements are being put in place.

Hear from an industry leading Net Zero Signatory Bank who will discuss the Net Zero transition from a bank’s perspective, explain what it means to be a Net Zero Signatory, how big the Net Zero transition is (Net Zero Alliance, Race to Zero, Climate Pledge) and why it makes sense to pay attention to how much money is being invested in this space. They will help explain how Climate change poses a risk to the global economy, how we are all connected to one another, and the important role we each play in helping Canada and our global industry move to a Net Zero Economy.

The journey towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions requires the effective utilization of data. Data plays a crucial role in identifying areas where emissions can be reduced, tracking progress towards targets, and making informed decisions for sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to collect, analyze, and interpret data accurately to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions.

In this session, we'll explore how to integrate a data strategy with your decarbonization strategy and the best ways to incorporate technology into your plan. Our panelists will discuss the challenges they face and how they are addressing them, as well as the changes they are making in their respective organizations.

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Learn from the lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment, who served as an appointed member of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body, and advises the federal government on achieving net-zero emissions. During this discussion, Simon will explain the difference between Carbon Neutral, Net Zero and Climate Positive. He will cover what REC’s (renewable energy credits) are, how they are used and the difference (value) between REC’s that have been validated and those that have not been validated.

We will cover the various forms of technology available that can/will help you collect the data needed. We discuss how to collect EPD documents, how to collect Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions and relevant software that can assist your clients, partners so you can use less staff and still provide the high quality data needed. We will learn from an architect/architect(s) who are actually using this technology.

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During this session we will hear from a top GC, who will speak about their journey to Net Zero. They will discuss how they implemented governance across their organization, the various kinds of controls needed, and how each of their various departments are involved. They will discuss how they collected all 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions and compute this for all projects.

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We will conduct a deep dive into what Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions are, how embodied carbon relates and discuss how to source materials that have low embodied carbon. Learn about what kinds of supply chain decarbonization practices are underway, i.e. about ev trucking networks and other forms of transportation required to transport construction goods.

During this session, we will learn about how to properly staff a company to prepare for ESG regulatory reporting. We will discuss what effective governance mechanisms look like. This session will explore up-skilling the work force and building capabilities to deal with increasing ESG expectations.

Explore where we are headed along with some of the top consultant companies who are helping to understand what the future looks like. Learn about what cities are paving the way, and what they are doing to help us get there.

There are many 'one size fits all' approaches to ESG in the development, construction and real estate sectors. There are a plethora of standards and checklists. But to have a real, lasting and meaningful impact, each project first needs to understand the potential ESG impact that's achievable.

As one example, in a province where 98% of electricity is renewable, the climate impact of energy efficient buildings is low. However, as of Canada's last SDG report, only 68% of Canadians are living in areas that meet air quality standards. While the temptation may be to focus on greenhouse gas emissions, the biggest ESG impact may actually be realized through reducing and managing air pollution.

This presentation will discuss the impact first approach to ESG as an alternative to standards and checklists, and a necessary step to realizing meaningful ESG outcomes.

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