I really don’t think a caption is necessary for anyone that has been on campus at UBC. Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/teachereducation/2012/08/23/how-do-i-get-to-scarfe-construction-update/
Every morning, it’s guaranteed that I’ll wake up to one of two kinds of noise– 1) the cheering of excited parents and kids for soccer matches on the field adjacent from the apartment I rent, or 2) the clanging and banging of construction for the in-progress elementary school and condo on the other side of the block.
On my walk to school, I pass by at least three different construction projects on campus. Over the years, I can’t help but to wonder what becomes of the buildings that I’ve watched being torn down to be replaced by shinier, more modern counterparts.
Construction and demolition waste is one of the most voluminous waste streams in the developed world, creating 160 million tons of waste each year, 44% of which comes from renovations alone. While many of the disposed materials (timber, glass, metals, soils, etc) can be reused, only one third of them are recovered or recycled.
So what of the materials from our beautiful campus, UBC, one of the world’s top universities and leaders in sustainability? Doing the Google search led me down a rabbithole of articles, papers, and documents that detail UBC’s efforts to address these concerns.
Setting it into perspective, UBC currently diverts about two thirds of their operational, construction and demolition waste from the landfill, with goals to set this rate to 80% by 2020. For construction efforts specifically, it is mandatory for 75% of waste from construction on campus to be diverted , with real diversion rates exceeding this expectation by 6% in 2011. Additionally, wood, carpet tiles, metal, and components such as drywall and separated and sorted for reuse or recycle.
It’s not every day that I’m singing praise about UBC construction, but I’ll have to admit, this is one place where the institution seems to be doing a good job at practicing what they preach. Next time you make a block long detour around blue fences in the rain, rest assured that at the very least, UBC is taking some serious precaution for renovating our campus with the environment in mind.
I really enjoy your focus on such a local issue that affects UBC students. It is a happy surprise to know how the university deals with waste. As always, there are two sides to the story. In one hand, it is important for UBC to update its campus to keep being competitive. New buildings provide and enhance services for students. Knowing that good care is being taken of the process, assures that UBC has a well-rounded approach to sustainable practices.
However, the constancy and big amounts of waste production is concerning.Constant changes in campus are annoying, but more importantly, I am not sure how necessary they are.
Is it really necessary to rebuild buildings that work instead of focusing that budget in more academic pursues? I am not sure how green is the decision to re-build over and over again, considering that the campus shows no major issues.
I am now interested to look into budget allocations of UBC and how they target students, very interesting article.
Another thing that UBC is doing right in terms of construction is that many of the new buildings we see popping up on campus are ‘sustainable’. One example is CIRS located on West Mall with is both LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ certified and The Living Building Challenge (LBC) certified. Another is the New SUB, which has no mechanical air conditioning, using rainwater in the cooling system; additionally the toilets are flushed with grey water. I am happy to see that even when they are thinking about design they have sustainability in mind as well as during the construction process.
In the past month as I’ve been riding the 49 to and from UBC, I’ve noticed a building getting demolished at 49th and West Blvd. In the early stages, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to all the material. I also wondered why it was taking them so long. Over time, I noticed that it was because they were sorting every single piece of debris into dozens of piles around the site. It’s great to see this happening in our city, and to know that it’s also happening at our school.
It is really not surprising to me that UBC is doing such an amazing job of recycling demolition and construction waste. It has always prided itself on being very sustainable-minded. The seemingly infinite amount of leaves cleaned up on campus every fall are stored and turned into sustainable soil for use on campus the following year.