With Earth Day just around the corner, we are pleased to share that – for the seventh consecutive year – UBC has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers in 2018.
This special award recognizes Canadian employers who create a culture of environmental awareness, develop exceptional earth-friendly initiatives, and – because of their environmental leadership – are attracting employees.
Some of reasons why UBC is being recognized with this award include:
- UBC first established its “Climate Action Plan” in 2010, which commits the university to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 67% by 2020 over the 2007 baseline year — impressively, UBC achieved a 30% reduction by 2015 while also increasing its building footprint and overall student population
- In 2008, UBC adopted the LEED Gold certification standard for all new construction and major renovations of institutional buildings — the university now has 16 LEED registered and 10 LEED certified buildings. For its existing building footprint, UBC partnered with BC Hydro to implement an ongoing “Building Tune-Up Program“, and has a longstanding building retrofit program that has been under way since 1998
- UBC maintains a 24-hectare certified organic farm where over 250 varieties of crops are grown — the facility offers public educational workshops, hosts regular farmers’ markets, provides fresh organic produce to a number of on-campus dining outlets, and offers weekly deliveries of fresh produce to people in the community
To learn more about UBC’s Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, read the 2016 CSFS Annual Report or visit ubcfarm.ubc.ca.
To learn more about UBC’s sustainability efforts, read the 2016/2017 Annual Sustainability Report or visit sustain.ubc.ca.
To see all of this year’s Greenest Employers, visit http://www.canadastop100.com/environmental/.