Sustainability defines UBC as a university. Through our collective efforts in education, research, partnerships, and operations, UBC advances sustainability on campus and beyond. Our goal is to commit, integrate, demonstrate, and inspire.
Commit.
Sustainability is the responsibility and commitment of our entire community. CIRS is a physical manifestation of this commitment. It is home to the UBC Sustainability Initiative (USI) that is charged with promoting and uniting UBC’s teaching and learning with sustainability efforts, research and campus operations.
Guided by two key themes—the campus as a living laboratory and the University as an agent of change—UBC students, faculty, staff and community members work together to explore new sustainability approaches on campus, and to foster relationships with individuals, business and government that move the sustainability dialogue beyond the campus.
Integrate.
UBC has long embraced an interdisciplinary approach, and we apply this same thinking to how we address sustainability. The magnitude of opportunities within sustainability demand partnerships and collaborations that extend beyond traditional boundaries of disciplines, sectors and geographies. Within CIRS and across campus, we invite partipants from the academic and operational areas of the university as well as the larger community to join the conversation.
Demonstrate.
The entire UBC campus is an experiment in sustainability. As just one example of this experimentation, CIRS functions as a test bed for the regenerative building process--that is, proving buildings can draw from a site's available resources and contribute back to them. A regenerative buidling improves environmental quality on a campus and in a city, as well as increasing human quality of life. CIRS researchers measure this through extensive data collection and analysis.
As a living laboratory, CIRS provides an opportunity to monitor energy, water, and mass flows as well as impacts. Treating the building as a process rather than a product facilitates interactions between inhabitants and the building as well as key building components and systems development. This ongoing study will enable continual improvements.
Inspire.
UBC is an exceptional learning environment that sets the stage for transformational dialouges and discovers in sustainability. We create new opportunities for learning that inspire our community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners. This community generates personal and University-wide contributions that accelerate sustainability within and beyond the gates of UBC.
