What if human activity could improve environmental and human quality, rather than detract from it? This ambitious, bold and focused question is the starting point of the CIRS research program.
The CIRS research program studies the significant potential that exists to build truly sustainable structures in urban settings, structures that enrich their surroundings and create healthy, balanced communities.
Using the CIRS building and its inhabitants as subjects of study, researchers from various disciplines work collaboratively to explore sustainable technologies, tools and approaches being applied in the CIRS building and on the UBC campus.
The pursuit of sustainability solutions at CIRS falls into three research areas:
- Sustainable building design and operation;
- Visualization tools and community engagement; and
- Regenerative sustainability beyond the building scale.
Research
Research Overview
CIRS is about doing things differently, and our research reflects our leadership at the frontier of new knowledge and practice in sustainability.
Sustainable Building Design & Operation
The sustainable building design and operation research area focuses on the physical spaces of the CIRS building. Using CIRS as a living laboratory, researchers work collaboratively with partners to test, implement, demonstrate and study sustainability innovation.
Visualization Tools and Community Engagement
Sustainability and climate change are complex topics. The visualization tools and community engagement research area aims to simplify sustainability dialogue by exploring new visual communication methods that illustrate sustainability challenges, climate change effects and potential solutions.
Regenerative Sustainability Beyond the Building Scale
Research undertaken in the regenerative sustainability beyond the building scale area seeks to answer a single question: To what degree can human activities associated with the built environment lead to improvements in both ecological integrity and human quality of life?
Publications
Sharing our research findings is a priority at CIRS. The Publications section serves as an archive for sustainability research related to the CIRS research agenda.
Publications by Author
Featured Publications
Elsevier,
(2004)
369–384
