Current Projects
This page is under works, come check back soon for updates!
Water Treatment Project
The Water Treatment Project is a collaboration with the not-for-profit organization Denman Housing Association on the Denman Green, a sustainable and affordable housing initiative.
ESW will be designing a sustainable rain water purification system to provide potable water to the houses. The system is in the initial design phase at the moment, with more updates to follow.
Biodiesel Lab
In the past, ESW has used the CHBE biodeisel lab to produce batches of biodiesel on a pilot scale for use in the campus community. It is a good opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience with industry-standard technology and use our 60L reactor. As well, students get the chance to see the impact of green energy technology.
This project is currently being re-established for the 2019-2020 academic year. Goals for this year include troubleshooting and upgrading the system to create a more efficient production process.
Lab Glove Recycling Project
Laboratory plastic is considered a ‘specialty’ waste stream that is often overlooked in the context of recycling. Manufacturers design these materials to be single-use, and little attention or guidance is given to disposal practices. Thus, laboratory practices are often extremely wasteful, but this is generally accepted since these practices are highly standardized and few, if any, alternatives exist for the reuse or recycling of laboratory materials. This project not only aligns with UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan by supporting waste diversion from laboratories, but it will help to advance recycling practices on a larger scale by increasing the demand for sustainable solutions for commonly overlooked, ‘specialty’ waste streams.
This project is focusing on testing the feasibility and environmental impact of recycling single-use nitrile gloves, with the goal of Increasing waste diversion
in UBC laboratories.
This projects is in partnership with the SEEDS Sustainability Program. The SEEDS program “creates partnerships between students, faculty, staff and community partners to learn together through research projects that are tested on campus, and applied in real-world settings.”
Build Day 2020
Build Day is an annual program by ESW Global where chapters undertake a project that can be designed starting as early as necessary, but must be installed in one day on-site!
This year, the project is a permanent and sustainable bench that hosts a wall of native greenery on both sides to be built on UBC Vancouver’s campus.
Past Projects
Neighbour Hub
Neighbour Hub is a collaborative project with Neighbour Lab group.
Neighbour Hub is a community-centric, self-sustained disaster preparedness installation designed to provide fresh water and electricity to entire communities in the case of a loss in grid function during a natural disaster. ESW helped in designing and installing a scaled-down pilot project that was installed at The Thingery on the Arbutus Greenway in August 2019.
The City of Vancouver has requested a proof-of-concept before they can consider full-scale installation. The current goal is developing public support for the project, to ensure it gets picked up by the City.
Speaker Series
Speaker Series was an event hosted by ESW in collaboration with other sustainability-minded groups on campus. These design teams present their work and hold discussions with students, promoting open discussion about sustainable design. Over the 2018-2019 year, ESW held a few Speaker Series with topics including Solar Energy and Clean Vehicle Engineering.