Model homes
The Point Grey campus is often described as a “living lab,” and its advanced residential builds are no exception. The novel designs and materials piloted at UBC are leading the way for a new era of sustainable housing.
tall and wooden
In 2017, UBC set a record for the tallest hybrid timber structure in the world. Standing 18 storeys high and constructed mostly of prefabricated wood, Brock Commons Tallwood House was designed to prove a point: that sustainable timber can replace the vast majority of the steel and concrete typically used in towers. With Brock Commons as proof of concept, even taller timber buildings have since sprouted up across the world.
Brock Commons is now home to more than 400 students at a time, who enjoy views of the ocean and mountains. It’s also a living lab. The UBC Sustainability Hub has studied the building for years, under the watchful eye of experts like wood science professor Haibo Feng. Based on data from sensors that monitor everything from moisture levels to temperature, Dr. Feng says Brock Commons has passed long-term safety tests with flying colours: when engineered correctly, tall wood buildings are highly resilient in earthquakes, and most of the timber is clad in fire-resistant materials.
Dr. Feng says data from Brock Commons has helped revise British Columbia’s building codes. As of 2024, BC allows mass timber residential buildings of up to 18 storeys, increased from 12. This policy change brings major environmental benefits, he says, given that 40 per cent of global carbon emissions come from the building sector. Though often overlooked, manufacturing and installing construction materials are a major source of those emissions, he says.
Bioproducts like wood go a long way to help reduce the carbon footprint. Researchers estimate that the timber in Brock Commons avoids and sequesters greenhouse gases at a rate equivalent to taking 511 cars off the road for a year. What’s more, wooden buildings in BC can use timber products from within the province, supporting local industry while reducing carbon emissions from transportation.
Mass timber is efficient in other ways, too. The Brock Commons on-site construction took just 70 days, an estimated four months faster than similar-sized projects. This is possible because mass timber can be largely assembled off-site—an advantage for climates like Vancouver’s, where making the most of fleeting dry weather is crucial for construction teams.
With Brock Commons complete, UBC researchers are working on the next generation of wood construction. The Sustainable Timber Built Environment (STBE) Cluster, a group of professors researching mass timber buildings, is dedicated to collaborating with forestry and construction industries to balance growth with sustainability, and to balance theoretical knowledge with practical experiments. “We can play the role of pioneers,” says Dr. Feng, “so the industry and the country can move forward.”
small and mobile
Blink, and you’ll miss it. Sitting on a scrap of ground on Agronomy Road, dwarfed by the nearby Pharmaceutical Sciences building, is what looks like an ordinary trailer bed. But to the trained (or imaginative) eye, it’s the 8 x 22-foot floor space for a soon-to-be tiny house on wheels.
This mobile structure won’t be inhabited any time soon. Instead, it’s a prototype and living classroom dreamed up by UBC’s Sustaingineering team, an interdisciplinary group of 40 to 60 students who work together each year on innovative design.
Called the Sustainable Mobile Research Testbed (SMRT), the petite prototype is a response to the climate and housing crises. With de-signed features like a rainwater harvesting system and a hybrid renewable energy system that includes a wind turbine to power amenities, the SMRT project will offer an affordable, modular housing option. Once it’s complete, the team plans to release a free blueprint of their work. They hope the SMRT project will inspire communities around the world to build their own sustainable tiny homes.
Sustaingineering co-captains Isabella Ma and Veronica Ehrensperger say students gain real-world experience ideating innovative designs, sourcing materials, training each other to use tools, and working on construction and project development—with a helping hand from faculty advisor Dr. Martin Ordonez and community volunteers.
“We want students to be able to get this hands-on knowledge that you might not get in the classroom,” says Ma. Spending weekends constructing a tiny house is daunting but fun, Ehrensperger adds. “It’s kind of like a puzzle—and I really like puzzles.”
After years of preparation, the puzzle is coming together. This spring, the student construction crew is erecting the structure’s frame. They’ll then relocate the SMRT project from Agronomy Road to a new site in Totem Field.
The move is welcome, the co-captains say, in part to escape an old nemesis: blackberries, which have been devouring the construction site each year as soon as the Sustaingineers leave campus for summer. With a motley assortment of knives and garden shears, they spend weeks in the fall wrestling brambles. “You always end up getting pricked everywhere,” says Ma. “It’s just unpleasant.”
As a space designated for testing student research projects, Totem Field will be luxuriously free of blackberries, the co-captains expect, though the challenges continue. “There’s the mud,” says Ehrensperger. “But we always figure something out,” says Ma.
passive and pleasant
Apartment buildings can be major energy consumers, with multiple units devouring energy for heating and cooling. UBC aims to change that through innovative design. According to the Green Building Action Plan, by 2035 the Vancouver campus will “make net positive contributions to human and natural systems.” Leading the way are buildings like Evolve, a six-storey, 110-unit residential building in Wesbrook Place exclusively for UBC faculty and staff.
Completed in 2022, Evolve was the first building on campus to be certified as a Passive House. It consumes up to 90 per cent less heating and cooling energy than a conventional building. It’s also the second building on campus to achieve a “platinum” certification in the Residential Environmental Assessment Program (REAP), UBC’s own requirements for green buildings, which mandate more rigorous energy efficiency relative to provincial building codes.
So, how does Evolve use so little energy? Alongside producing some of its own—solar panels on the roof power the common areas—Evolve is designed to keep its cool, even in scorching summers. Trees planted nearby offer reprieve from the sun, as do movable metal shades on the building’s exterior. Windows and terrace doors are outfitted with sensors, so that the building’s energy-efficient heat pump only blasts cool air at a maximum when apartments are sealed tight. The building is cocooned in thick thermal insulation, plus triple-glazed windows that can also tilt and turn to catch a cooling breeze.
With support from a $3.5 million Natural Resources Canada Grant for Passive House construction costs and continued research, UBC experts study the building to guide future innovative designs. But the numbers aren’t everything. First and foremost, the building is a place to call home for UBC faculty and staff. Given Vancouver’s rental market, the quality and affordability of campus housing is crucial for an institution hoping to attract and support talented employees from all over the world. With amenities like communal outdoor space, play areas for kids, and both Wesbrook Village and Pacific Spirit Forest steps away, Evolve is kind to people and the planet.
