photo credit: Student Housing and Hospitality Services

Home to over 1,600 students, Marine Drive Residence is UBC’s newest suite-style residence area. Buildings 1,2,4, and 6 are year-round residences, and building 5 is a winter-session only residence.

Some cool sustainability features at Marine Drive include a green commonsblock with an open space concept built with repurposed pine-beetle wood, controllable thermostats, and floor to ceiling windows to maximize natural light. Composting pick-up is available at Marine Drive: simply empty your compost into the large green bins labelled “organics” outside Marine Drive building 1’s north side near St. John’s College. Beginning in September 2011, every suite in Marine Drive will be provided with a small composting bin as part of residents’ room inventory.

Suite-style residences currently have an Residence Life Manager-run sustainability committee. Last year, they put on events such as a green cleaning workshop, a stuff swap, and the Green Star pledge, where roommates could pledge to three or more sustainable behaviours to stick to throughout the year.