from the ground up - The Tyee

CASE STUDY #4: The Centre for Interactive Research on SustainabilitygreenfromthegroundupPhoto by Justin LangilleThe Centre for Interactive Research on SustainabilityPoint Grey, VancouverCompleted: 2011Use: Office/laboratoryDistinction:Built for ‘Net-Zero’ impactUBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) goes beyond low-impact to achieve a standardset by the Living Building Challenge of actually from using no off-site energy or water on a ‘net’ basis. Thebuilding captures heat from waste steam from the nearbytheground Earth and Sciences Building—the kind of symbioticrelationship that John Robinson, Executive Director up of UBC’s Sustainability Initiative, hopes will be amodel for the entire campus. The building also acts as its own water treatment plant: collecting, storing andtreating rainwater and using it in toilets, urinals and irrigation. During slow times on campus—summer andholiday breaks—it will treat and re-use sewage from other buildings as well.green42