Kim Davis
Sun
A year-old University of B.C. sustainable construction program is drawing the attention of residential developers and their regulators.
Called the Residential Environmental Assessment Program, it is very much a made-in-Vancouver substitute for an international sustainable construction program, LEED.
Developed through the UBC Campus Sustainability Office and based on LEED, REAP sets out to create a user-friendly and sustainable framework to guide the development of multi-residential buildings on campus.
REAP uses a similar point and designation system as LEED (compliant, bronze, silver, gold) and imposes mandatory design requirements for compliance and champions sustainability or green initiatives.
Unlike LEED, however, which in its present form proves unwieldy for residential buildings at or under four storeys, REAP is a “market driven approach” that aims to address the specific conditions, construction practices and marketing of low-rise multi-family developments in the Lower Mainland.
REAPING DEVELOPERS
The acceptance of REAP among developers of UBC properties has been impressive, particularly given that their involvement was voluntary during its first pilot year.
Jorge Margues, the energy manager for the UBC sustainability office, is not surprised. “When developers submit their projects for consideration to the development permit board they are being asked how they are addressing sustainability. REAP is tailored to local conditions, not nearly as onerous as LEED, and far less costly.”
Matthew Carter, the development manager at UBC Properties, feels that the voluntary aspect of the program was one of the reasons it was so well received by developers.
“Once we had told developers that the system wasn’t mandatory, they really engaged it. When we encouraged them to use it as an agenda or guideline [for sustainable practices] they responded enthusiastically and embraced it.”
REAP’s “user-friendliness” is considered one of the program’s most compelling attributes. “It is a relatively straight forward framework for developers to understand, and the documentation is far less burdensome than LEED,” says Robert Brown, a principal with Resource Rethinking Buildings and one of the consultants who have helped develop and implement the program.
Norm Couttie, an executive with the Adera development company, feels that REAP is “much more practical than LEED.” (Adera now is starting construction of its third REAP project.)
“It isn’t necessary to be so scientific at the beginning [of implementing sustainability],” Couttie says. “It costs $50,000 to get LEED certified, and I would rather put that into the building.”
Easing energy efficiency
As part of the ongoing effort to refine REAP, and make it easier for developers to identify and implement energy efficient strategies, UBC CSO and Adera commissioned an energy modeling exercise for an archetypal UBC multi-family residential building (MURB). The modeling evaluated the impact of a variety of measures, ranging from low-flow shower fixtures to geothermal heating.
The project resulted in the creation of four energy efficiency “bundles” which can be incorporated into the design of new MURBs.
The first bundle, developed for Adera, is expected to save nearly 35 per cent in energy usage over the original baseline design, will be used in the company’s upcoming Legacy development.
The remaining three, developed for UBC and designed to build on each other, will be used to replace REAP’s current performance-based approach. As Marques points out, ” since most residential developers are not familiar with or interested in doing the energy modeling required for determining performance levels, we wanted to go to more of a checklist.”
Too good to be true?
The program is not without its shortcomings. For instance, unlike LEED, which uses third party certification, REAP is what Brown describes as “somewhat self-regulatory.” The program relies on the professionalism of project participants (architect, engineer, consultants, etc.) to submit accurate documentation (usually in the way of a letter) to verify REAP compliance. While Brown believes it is still too early to assess the success of this documentation method, he does feel “they still need to continue to refine it, and nail down the accountability process.” His overall assessment so far, however, is that the program is doing well. “REAP is filling a gap, and moving people along that [sustainable] continuum.” “It has done a good job of finding a balance, and in order to move the market you have to find something that people will adopt.”
COMING SOON
Around March of this year, UBC will release a final version of REAP. All residential developments on the university’s campus will be required to participate and at least meet the mandatory requirements needed for compliance.
While there are currently no plans to make REAP certification available to non-UBC projects, Margues argues that like LEED, REAP can be used as a guide by any developer looking to incorporate sustainable practices into a project.
Adera has already approached the City of North Vancouver about using the program, instead of LEED, for a project in that municipality.
BUY INTO UBC’S UNIQUE HISTORY WITH LEGACY HOME
The 55-home Legacy project is the Adera development company’s third residential and third REAP undertaking on the UBC campus.
The company expects to begin selling the homes in Legacy in March. Call 604-684-8277 of visit www.adera.com to register.
The project’s name was the result of two histories, Adera says.
Its status as “the final residential project in the Hawthorn neighbourhood” on campus is one history.
And the “vision” process that precedes all Adera new-home projects provided another history the name of the project should reflect — UBC’s and local architecture.
CALIFORNIA PIONEER”S INFLUENCE FELT
“A ‘West Coast modern’ character, drawing upon the history of residential design in Vancouver, as well as this movement’s ties with UBC, was thought to be very appropriate….
“One of the events which sparked the adoption of the ‘modern movement’ by West Coast clients and architects was a 1945 visit to Vancouver by Richard Neutra, a California pioneer of the movement. Co-sponsored by the president of UBC, this visit generated public interest in architecture in general and helped lead to the creation of the UBC School of Architecture.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006