“An ambitious plan that set an example of best practice for communities across Canada.”

A complex project involving a very collaborative relationship with the project team at UBC and UNA. The plan has a number of recommendations on energy generation, energy efficiency, transportation, the most exciting is a new district energy system for the residential areas of UBC using waste heat from a research facility.

Developing a model of building and transportation energy for the residential neighborhoods for thirty years into the future was a challenge but fascinating. The residential component of UBC is expected to grow significantly – this reduces commuting to campus but increases building-related GHG emissions. The GHG targets are ambitious and will require a major effort on strategies related to district energy, transportation and behaviour change. It is also the first time we were asked to model the GHG emissions associated with plane flights.