Located on the main campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) will accelerate the adoption of sustainable building technologies and urban development practices. The multi-disciplinary research clusters to be housed in the CIRS building will include partners from Simon Fraser University, the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
At completion, the CIRS building is expected to be the most innovative and high performance building in North America. It is intended to be a ‘living laboratory’ for researchers and partners to study technical, social and economic issues related to green building design, products, systems and policies. The innovative, flexible design is adaptable to rapid changes in building technology or long term changes to environmental conditions.
Energy and Environment
One of the key goals of the CIRS building is to become a net producer of clean, renewable energy in a GHG neutral way. This will be achieved by maximizing building energy efficiency and taking full advantage of opportunities for energy generation.
Natural daylighting is maximized through building design and by employing daylighting shelves that distribute natural light while reducing glare. Solar shading panels block undesired heat gains, while operable windows allow for natural ventilation through the interior space. In addition, the high performance building envelope includes a 25 kilowatt array of building integrated photovoltaic panels (BIPV) that help to generate electricity for the building.
A heat recovery system that taps into the fume hood exhaust stack of an adjacent building will recover enough waste thermal energy to provide 100% of the space heating needs in the CIRS building. A geo-exchange heat pump system provides a back-up source of heat and is used to cool the 500-seat auditorium/lecture hall. A 40 kilowatt solar hot water system provides about 60 percent of domestic hot water needs.
The CIRS building will employ stormwater infiltration wells, bio-swales, grey-water collection and distribution systems, wastewater systems (such as Solar Aquatics®) and grey-water storage tanks to treat and reuse all of its stormwater and wastewater onsite.
As a testing facility of leading-edge sustainabilty solutions, the building program will utilize flexible design solutions. Various building components, such as heating and lighting, may be adapted or replaced in response to new and rapidly developing technologies and their applications.
The CIRS building is equipped with a state-of-the-art monitoring system that can be used to continuously and seamlessly assess and display building system performance for occupants.Energy and water consumption, indoor environmental quality, temperature, and daylight harvesting will be monitored systematically to collect reliable post-occupancy data of building performance and to develop a set of indicators applicable to the performance monitoring of other buildings. This will not only allow for continuous improvements of efficiency over time, but also help to educate the public.
Community and Economy
The wastewater bio-filter will be fitted with store-front glazing to allow visitors and occupants of the CIRS building to observe the biological wastewater treatment system at work. Diagrams and schematics will explain many of the sustainability strategies employed in the building design.
The design of the CIRS building demonstrates innovative local applications of sustainably harvested wood, thereby supporting an emerging market for pine beetle wood in British Columbia.
Research at CIRS is pioneering new forms of multi-sectoral partnerships among researchers, industry, practitioners and community members to apply research results in public policy and business decision-making arenas and, in turn, inform further research. This approach is anticipated to produce pivotal insights, methods and policies to advance sustainable urban development in British Columbia, Canada and around the world.
www.cirs.ubc.ca
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