Linda Thorstad, P. Geo., is a respected, senior professional who has served in many roles related to environmental and sustainability matters. A strategic thinker, she has demonstrated a solid understanding of interdependence of social, economic and environmental issues. Thorstad provided the leadership that led to drafting, member consultation and ultimate adoption of the APEGBC Guidelines for Sustainability as well as adoption of sustainability as a key component of the APEGBC’s Mission Statement.
• document: Linda Thorstad • in detail XlnkS60E
Tag Archives: Portal
Terrence Rollerson, P. Geo
Mr. Rollerson developed the method called Terrain Attribute Studies (TAS) for landslide prevention in the forestry industry. The TAS approach to landslide management has received wide attention and support within the forest industry. Terry’s combination of disciplined scientific research and detailed knowledge of the forest industry has resulted in a scientifically proven, practical method that has wide applications to the forest industry. Mr. Rollerson’s work is an important aspect of the B.C. forest industry’s commitment to sustainability.
• document: Terrence Rollerson • in detail XlnkS60F
UBC Sustainability Office
In 1997, UBC became the first Canadian University to adopt a sustainable development policy. A year later, Dr. Freda Pagani was entrusted with the task of creating an organization that would implement this policy by coordinating sustainability initiatives across campus. This was a challenging task, as there were no funds available in the university budget. So Dr. Pagani and her colleagues came up with an idea; they would initiate programs to help the university cut down on its energy and water use by 20% over five years, and part of the savings would fund the office. The Campus Sustainability Office (CSO) was established in 1998 as a selffunded entity with the vision of “earning the respect of future generations for the ecological, social and economic legacy we create”. Since then, UBC has become Canada’s leader in campus sustainability.
• from: UBC Sustainability • document: UBC Sustainability Office • in detail XlnkS610 XlnkC17CA
Plan B
Modern civilization is in trouble. We have created a bubble economy, one whose output is artificially inflated by overconsuming the earth’s natural capital. Nowhere is the bubble economy more evident than in the food sector where the world grain harvest has been inflated by overpumping aquifers, a practice that virtually guarantees a future drop in production when aquifers are depleted. The wakeup call may come soon. In China, where water shortages are already shrinking the food supply, the grain harvest has fallen from 392 million tons in 1999 to 340 million tons in 2003. Within the next year or two as its grain reserves are depleted, China’s 1.3 billion consumers will begin competing with U.S. consumers for U.S. grain. Given China’s trade surplus with the United States of over $80 billion and strong buying power, this has the potential to drive up food prices worldwide. The resulting political instability in food-importing countries may convince us that business as usual-Plan A-is no longer a viable option. The alternative is Plan B-a worldwide mobilization to stabilize population and climate before these issues spiral out of control. The goal is to stabilize population close to the United Nations’ low projection of 7.4 billion, to reduce carbon emissions by half by 2015, and to raise water productivity by half. Lester Brown puts forth a workable blueprint that can be enacted now. Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble is a way of sustaining economic progress worldwide, an alternative to continuing environmental deterioration and eventual economic decline.
• from: Lester Brown • in detail XlnkS608 XlnkC18CC
Solar Manifesto
In the decade since the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro, the response of the world’s governments and authorities to the threats to the global environment has been to enforce the reduction of energy consumption and harmful emissions – solulions primarily based around conventional energy resources and conventional thinking. The question is, though, whether this strategy is radical enough to address the key challenges now facing the environment, and whether it can be effective in avoiding catastrophe on a global scale. For Herman Scheer, the answer is a definite no. In this fully updated edition of A Solar Manifesto, he once more attacks the lack of political will to find answers outside a conventional frame of reference. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, destruction of the ozone layer, poverty and the population explosion are all problems created or exacerbated by the use of conventional energy. Seven years after the first edition of this book, answers are now more urgently required than ever, as current policies serve merely to alleviate the escalating symptoms rather than attempting a cure for what could become a terminal affliction. Herman Scheer shows that this crisis may yet be reversed – but it can only be made to happen through a fundamental change in political and economic strategies, paving the way towards a global solar energy economy sustained by new social principles. A Solar Manifesto champions the replacement of fossil and nuclear fuels with solar energy, as a real solution to the threat to the environment and associated social consequences. Scheer constructs a radical yet innovative political and economic model and argues the case with passion and conviction for the global solar economy as the route to a sustainable environment. Thought-provoking and profoundly challenging, this book will be an inspiration to anyone concerned with energy and the global environment.
• from: Hermann Scheer • in detail XlnkS609 XlnkC18CD
Architecture BC Issue Ten Fall 2003 – Integration + Innovation: The Seabird Island Project
The Seabird Island Project, located in British Columbia five miles north of Agassiz on the Fraser River, is the first of its kind in the world. While other research and prototype developments have advanced the concepts and principles of sustainable housing, the Seabird Project has assembled a whole range of strategies, new technologies, innovations, and new products to demonstrate an integrated approach. A member of the Sto:lo First Nation, the Seabird Island community contains 1,943 floodplain hectares, of which 730 hectares are cultivated. The remaining 1,213 hectares are used for residences, community buildings, forestry, rights-of-way, and economic development projects. Project planning and design for its new, sustainable housing development began in May, 2002, and is now at over 65% completion. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Assisted Housing Department has partnered with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Seabird Island First Nation, along with many sponsoring suppliers and manufacturers, to demonstrate a new way of financing and building affordable housing projects. The Seabird Island units have largely been financed by the regular NHA Section 95 program for social housing on-reserve, and will be rented to band members who have been on a new housing waiting list for a number of years. One of the housing units will remain open for tours and public education over the next two years.
• from: Architectural Institute of BC • document: Architecture BC – Seabird Island • in detail XlnkS603 XlnkC189B
Concord N & O Residential Development
The N and O Towers are a residential development of one tower with townhouses at 610 Beach Crescent (Tower N) and one tower with townhouses at 1530 Granville Street (Tower O), both in the Beach Neighbourhood Area. These prime residential developments with a high quality of urban design and architecture are intended to be energy efficient buildings in line with the “Green Building Strategies”. This project was selected by CMHC as a case study to investigate the “Strategies for Alternative Energy Use and Redistribution at the Building Envelope”. The findings of this study are expressed in the orientation and massing of the building as well as in the elevation treatment. Both towers are oriented towards the views. The location of the towers next to Granville Bridge forces the suite orientation towards the park and the water. The units above the bridge have nice views towards English Bay. Although the east and the south tower elevations are angled to maximize views, the north and west elevation as well as the core and the interior walls (with a few exceptions) are oriented towards the established downtown city grid. Although a maximum 7-storey base along the Beach Crescent & George Wainborn Park was allowed in the guidelines, a strong 3-storey base framing the park would is more in relation to the human scale. Both proposed towers fan out from the 7th storey down and tie in with the 3- storey base framing the park. The townhouses also step down from Beach to the Waterfront Walkway, following the 6m slope. Rather than a 7-storey high wall along the park, the proposed massing creates a more open character towards the water. A lookout from the semi-private courtyard towards George Wainborn Park is located between the two towers and is set within the townhouse framework.The tower portion of both buildings above the 7th floor has 6 units per floor up to level 11 with 5 units per floor for the upper floors.
• from: Busby + Associates • document: Concord N & O Residential Development • in detail XlnkS600 XlnkC1786
City of Vancouver: Country Lanes
2003 APWA Technical Innovation Award Winner Honourable Mention for 2003 CAMA Environmental Award The City of Vancouver has developed an environmentally sustainable ‘Country Lane’ design that makes back lanes greener and more attractive. Three ‘Country Lanes’ were constructed by August 2003 as part of a demonstration project. This alternative to full width asphalt lane paving is in response to the City’s goal to reduce environmental impacts and to create a more liveable community. Country Lanes feature two narrow driving strips surrounded by a structural component that is topsoiled and planted with grass. This structural grass is a rigid plastic grid that can support vehicles and prevent grass roots from being compacted and rutting the soil. Two of the three lanes used driving strips built out of concrete, while one lane used permeable driving strips built out of the structural grass grid in-filled with small gravel. The road base is a mixture of aggregate, which provides structural stability, and a sand/soil mixture that allows for drainage and provides the soil components required for grass growth. This structural soil was developed by City of Vancouver staff. The Country Lane design will allow rainwater to percolate over vegetation and through the ground. The natural absorption allowed by this permeable lane surface reduces discharge into the storm sewer system, recharges groundwater, and reduces peak flows into rivers. The increased vegetation will filter stormwater and improve air quality. Aside from the environmental aspects, this innovative sustainable design also has many other advantages including traffic calming, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.
• from: City of Vancouver • document: City of Vancouver: Country Lanes • in detail XlnkS601 XlnkC178F
740 Bel Air
The existing 740 Bel-Air Street complex was built between 1851 and 1950 on a 10,400m2 lot near downtown Montreal, and served as a storage facility for several government agencies for 15 years. As part of the PWGSC’s regional investment strategy, the objective of this project is to build a new multi-client Government of Canada building at this site. The combined future occupied space requirements of the tenants were estimated to be 15,696m2 of combined warehouse and office space. This new building will meet the future armoury housing and storage requirements of the Donnacona Naval Reserve of the Department of National Defence (DND), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) and provide 19,470m2 of parking. The St. Henri district of Montreal has been undergoing revitalization for some time. The new armoury will provide an activity hub and visible federal government presence in the neighbourhood. This new investment is consonant with the government objective of promoting investments that help rehabilitate communities. The design focuses on providing maximum flexibility in the immediate and future use of space. A building grid with column spacing, fenestration and service runs suited to the most flexible interior space arrangements is used. The character, massing, scale and materials of this project are all designed to be simple, yet high quality and compatible with the surrounding context. The project will use the most sustainable building methods possible and special attention will be paid to the recovery of construction materials and energy conservation. Approximately 50% to 95% of waste in the project will be recycled, reduced or reused. Following the demolition phase, some parts of the existing buildings will be left intact and integrated into the new complex. Operating costs of the facility will be kept as low as possible by strict adherence to energy conservation principles.
• from: Busby + Associates • document: 740 Bel Air • in detail XlnkS5FD XlnkC1786
Nicola Valley Institute of Technology
One of Canada’s first post-secondary facilities shared by a native and non native institute, designed to reflect the cultural characteristics of the aboriginal students, and provide state of the art learning spaces required by University College of the Cariboo. The program includes classrooms, faculty offices, social spaces, labs, bookstore, cafeteria, and library. Internal siting of functional spaces has been with the intention of eliminating any sense of hierarchy. The design process involved intensive user group interaction, and numerous site visits with the native elders. The semi-circular shape is the first gesture toward the circular scheme of the master plan. This shape is meaningful and recurring native theme. A ceremonial arbour will be the focus of the space framed by the circle Both the arbour and the building are oriented on the cardinal points, with the building’s main entrance on the east axis, symbolizing the start of the day. The building is designed as a cold climate green building. This commitment to the new technology of environmental sustainability is in clear alignment with the historical aboriginal structures of the area. The building emerges from the sloping site, and evolves into a three storey building. The inner strip of the semicircular rooftop is planted, adding to the sense of the building growing out of the landscape and also supporting the intention of minimal disruption of the natural landscape of the undeveloped site. An area of study at the institute will be ethnobotany, the native use of indigenous plants. Traditional native structures in this area were mainly pithouses and the trees used were small diameter local species. This building is a combination of wood and concrete with a wood column structural system, visually representing pithouse poles rising up through the interior space. A glazed ventilation stack with operable windows is a central feature of the main part of the building, and a critical element in the green design. Tensioned fabric will used in the ventilation stack for shading. This reference to stretched skins is another element of aboriginal design which will also be utilized for the front entrance canopy. Exterior cladding will be horizontal wood strip siding. A challenging and successful scheme that adheres to the rigorous budget requirements of the Ministry’s value analysis process, this is the first phase of a much larger campus plan (43 acre site), and will be followed by campus housing.
• from: Busby + Associates • document: Nicola Valley Institute of Technology • in detail XlnkS5FE XlnkC1786