Bringing UVic’s largest capital project to life

A range of innovative energy reduction and energy management systems helped University of Victoria (UVic) boost its climate resilience and cut GHG emissions while providing much needed student housing, dining facilities and conference centre.

Location

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Client

University of Victoria

Architect

Perkins & Will

Project value

$235.9 Million

Certification

LEED V4 Gold certification and International Passive House standards

The quest for a low-carbon gathering place

A new student housing and dining facility – the first major project of the University of Victoria’s new Campus Plan – was needed to help address the growing demand for on-campus accommodation. A key priority for the Campus Plan overall was to enhance the student experience and create a more vibrant and walkable campus, while the facility itself was to serve as a gathering place for everyone on campus.

UVic’s global leadership in environmental, social and institutional climate action and sustainability is exemplified by its Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 2030. Target 1 of the Action Plan calls for a 50% reduction, by 2030, in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) below the 2010 baseline, and Net Zero by 2040.

Unconventional thinking and a diverse roster of innovative technologies were required to meet the new facility’s broad program requirements while dramatically reducing its carbon footprint.

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Bringing the university’s largest capital project to life

Executing the largest capital project in UVic’s history required extensive collaboration. A team of electrical and civil engineers from WSP worked alongside architects, structural and mechanical engineers to design the facility’s two buildings, the first of which was completed in 2022 and the second a year later. In addition to sleeping quarters and related community spaces for 783 students, the buildings house a 600-seat dining hall served by a large commercial kitchen, plus academic and conference rooms, and an Indigenous student lounge.

Meeting rigorous global standards for energy efficiency and sustainability

The buildings are the first on campus – and among the largest in Canada – to achieve International Passive House certification. Passive House design combines superior thermal comfort with minimum energy consumption and reduced maintenance and replacement costs. Every aspect of the buildings’ design and daily operation was thoroughly analyzed, and a range of techniques – including airtightness of the building envelope, optimized windows with fixed sunshades, high-efficiency LED lighting and smart energy control systems – were employed to reduce energy requirements. Both buildings were awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4 Gold certification.

Net carbon footprint reduction

90%

Reduction in kitchen’s GHG emissions

80%

Reduction in lighting electrical load

48%

All-electric kitchen equipment reduces the facility’s overall GHG emissions by 80%

The facility is almost entirely powered by electricity, dramatically reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. Located in the first building, the commercial-scale kitchen – North America’s largest in a Passive House building – completely eliminated conventional gas-fired equipment and thus required four times the usual amount of electricity. Nevertheless, thanks in part to a range of sophisticated energy metering and control systems, the kitchen is five to six times more energy efficient than a comparable conventional kitchen, reducing the building’s overall GHG emissions by 80%. Significant energy savings were also achieved through high-efficiency lighting design with advanced controls that yielded 48% lower lighting loads than the industry standard.

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Among all universities assessed in the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, UVic ranked fifth globally, and second in Canada for Climate Action, one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We are proud to have contributed to developing and implementing innovative techniques that significantly reduced the facility’s environmental impact.

Andrew Tashiro Senior Principal, Property and Buildings

Andrew Tashiro Senior Principal, Property and Buildings

Waste heat recovery cuts the energy requirement for domestic hot water

Each day, the new dining hall serves 8,700 meals, requiring an average of 27,750 litres of domestic hot water. To minimize the electricity required to meet this demand, hot water is pre-heated using the waste heat captured from the kitchen exhaust, refrigeration system, dishwasher wastewater and shower drain water. Likewise, heat recovered from the ventilation system lessens the need for the buildings’ space heating. Finally, the use of electric air-source heat pumps and other measures reduced GHGs for hot water heating by 88%.