Top 5 Questions During Green Building Tours

Gavin Pattman has been giving green building tours throughout the summer, and he shared the answers to some of the questions he is most frequently asked while giving tours.

Is it more expensive to construct a really sustainable building, such as CIRS, compared to a more traditional building?

Yes, it was more expensive to build CIRS than an average building of a similar size. However, this higher initial cost is partially compensated for by the savings in energy and water use. And because the building is part of UBC’s Living Laboratory initiative, much of the extra expense goes towards testing new technologies, materials, and construction methods in the building. This extra initial expense is an investment in both sustainability and knowledge.

A lot of green buildings on campus use wood as a building material. What are the benefits of building with wood?

Using wood as a building material has a number of benefits from a sustainability standpoint, especially here in British Columbia. Because this province has a strong forestry industry, the wood can be harvested and processed sustainably within the province, strengthening our economy and reducing transportation costs and emissions. Wood is also a renewable resource, and produces less Greenhouse Gases to manufacture than the traditional concrete and steel. Furthermore, as trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When these trees are used for construction, this carbon remains stored within the wood structure of the building. For a wooden building, this could mean storing more carbon within the structure than is produced during its construction, allowing it to be net-positive.

Why are so many green buildings on campus built around tall, open atriums?

These open atriums are useful for a variety of reasons. From a basic standpoint, they are a desirable space for a building to have for aesthetics and for making areas seem more public. From a sustainability standpoint, they are great for light and for air flow. Energy can be saved through the use of windows to harvest sunlight, reducing the need for electrical lighting. And because air is usually moved through a building by fans and other mechanical ventilation, atriums can allow for energy savings through the use of natural air flow.

Why are the stairs so prominent in buildings like the Nest, the Earth Science Building, and CIRS?

The stairs are often displayed in the atriums to encourage people to use the stairs instead of the elevator. This is to improve the physical health of building users and to conserve the energy that would’ve been used by the elevators. It also improves traffic flow and acts as a visual focal point for the space.

Why does the living roof on the Nest grow food while the living roof on the CIRS building does not?

There are a few reasons for this. The CIRS living roof was meant to be as maintenance-free as possible. The plants are all local or climate-adapted, which allows them to grow mostly unaided apart from a yearly weeding. The rooftop garden on the Nest has a student club, Roots on the Roof, which is dedicated to cultivating and maintaining the garden and crops. Furthermore, CIRS uses recycled water, treated in the Solar Aquatics Lab, to water its garden. As a safety precaution, any food that grows on that rooftop is not eaten. The Nest, however, uses treated rainwater, which enables them to use their garden to grow food for human consumption.

Contributed by Gavin Pattman, a Green Building Tour Coordinator with Campus and Community Planning and student in the Faculty of Arts.