UBC’s latest residential apartment project, Clement’s Green, is a leading example of the university’s commitment to green building standards in the emerging live-work community of University Town.
The four-storey, 55-home building was designed and is being built in accordance with UBC’s Residential Environmental Assessment Program (REAP), a new UBC-made rating system for residential building performance.
According to Robert Brown, Principal of Resource Rethinking Rebuilding Inc., green building consultants to UBC, "The university is showing real leadership with REAP and the sustainability commitments made with Clement’s Green. Compared to other projects of this scale in the region, Clement’s Green is among the leaders in terms of sustainable design, water and energy efficiency, waste management, healthy interiors and building practices."
Authored by UBC Professor of Architecture Ray Cole and the UBC Sustainability Office, REAP is similar to the internationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, but customized to provide developers with a system that takes account of environmental conditions and the economics of residential construction in the Lower Mainland. With REAP, developers at UBC are strongly encouraged to use innovative heating systems, local materials, high-efficiency appliances and equipment that minimize energy, water consumption and waste production.
Sustainability features in Clement’s Green include: a geothermal system for heating water, hot water meters for each suite, Energy Star appliances, dual flush toilets, and a building waste management and recycling plan.
Clement’s Green is UBC’s third successful faculty and staff co-development project. Co-development is central to UBC’s strategy to create a live-work community. Under the program, groups of faculty, staff, and others who work on campus (and would otherwise be commuting) partner with the university to develop and build townhouses and apartments, and as a result realize a cost savings of as much as 20 percent below market value.
Clement’s Green is sold out, will be completed in the summer of 2006, and is located in UBC’s Hawthorn Place Neighbourhood. Clement’s Green is named after Frederick Clement, Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Agriculture from 1919 to 1949.
University Town is transforming UBC from a commuter campus to a work-live community and will contribute more than $500 million to the UBC endowment, which funds research, scholarships, bursaries and academic infrastructure. Seven new residential and mixed-use neighbourhoods will increase the campus’ permanent population to approximately 18,000 residents by 2021 and will include student, faculty, and staff housing, university-related shops and services, parks, a community centre, a school and a range of public amenities.
For further information on University Town, please visit www.universitytown.bc.ca