A Living Experiment in Sustainable Innovation

The Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation was conceived to meet the urgent need for tradespeople, site managers and construction workers who are skilled in the practices of sustainable building. It is designed to the standards of the Living Building Challenge, the most rigorous sustainability program on the planet. The building itself is used extensively as part of the teaching curriculum and is highly-adaptable design to future changes in technology and education.

Key features include:

• Accessible and demonstrable building systems with live building data available for use
• Real-time energy usage demonstrated in each classroom, workshop, office and other areas with red/yellow/green indicators and full LED displays showing comprehensive data to encourage conversation and behavioral adaptation
• A “conserve, capture and create” approach to energy and water use in pursuit of net-zero water and energy use consumption, as required for Living Building Challenge certification
• An accessible green roof planted with local flora that attracts local species
• The largest photovoltaic array for a non-utility organisation in Canada
• Sun-tracking light pipes that magnify sunlight by a factor of ten
• Vacuum tube solar panels to supply hot water needs
• Nearly 100% of wood sourced from British Columbia, including local pine beetle-kill and FSC timber

“…the best example of a well integrated passive design solution in which the architecture was not over-burdened with technology. A common sense approach to envelope design, heating, ventilation and daylighting is supplemented by innovative water and waste treatment systems.”

2012 Canadian Green Building Awards, Jury Comments