The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), located in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an interdisciplinary academic centre; the building is home to multiple research projects and the subject of ongoing studies on the long-term effects of sustainable design, construction and operation.
The decision to use wood was in keeping with the regenerative concept of CIRS. Wood is one of the most sustainable building materials on the planet: trees grow using energy from the sun and provide valuable ecosystem services such as releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, creating habitats, as well as providing shade and cooling. All of the wood used in CIRS was sourced from the sustainably managed forests of British Columbia.
