University of British Columbia (UBC) policies and guidelines have adopted stringent sustainability performance criteria that all building projects and development initiatives must comply with.
UBC is developing a sustainability lens for new projects, which determines and evaluates the potential environmental, social and economic impacts of construction and building operations, including methods to measure long term progress. The University has determined (through studies such as life cycle assessment) that wood is an optimal building material due to its structural, aesthetic and environmental characteristics. These qualities make wood construction essential in supporting UBC’s goals to create buildings designed to have a net-positive impact on their environment and the lives of their human inhabitants.