EcoRoof shakes on Ridgeview School in North Vancouver
involved grinding up old tires into granules as well as removing wire from the mix. The result is a tile with 80 per cent recycled rubber tire content that is longer-lasting than asphalt shingles and comes with a 50-year warranty. The shakes, which can replicate the look of traditional wood roofing, are produced in panels that seal together after installation, similar to installing a regular roofing shingle. EcoRoof shakes can be used for reroofing existing
homes that have cedar shakes or asphalt shingles and can be installed on shiplap roof decks without having to install plywood. Last year, Penfolds installed the thicker EcoRoof shakes on North Vancouver’s Ridgeview Elementary School during seismic upgrading, fulfilling the school district’s aim of attaining LEED certification. Apart from the environmental benefits, the material also provides significant soundproofing, is very durable and can be walked on without denting, cracking or scratching the roof.
Recyled-rubber roofing can replicate the look of traditional wood roofing
Supplied by UBC Campus & Community Planning
Sustainable transportation to UBC supports innovation By Scott Steedman Twice a day, student Kyle Warwick tries to get a 99 B-Line to or from UBC. The 99, which runs from Commercial Drive to UBC, carries the majority of riders on the Broadway corridor—now the busiest bus transit corridor in TransLink’s system. Warwick, who is also the VP External for UBC’s AMS Student Society, lines up with thousands of other commuters as the express buses pull in and out. Sometimes he squeezes in; just as often the bus passes by with the “Sorry: Full” sign flashing. UBC is Canada’s third largest university, with over 48,000 students and 19,000 employees. Through a regional economic impact of $10 billion, UBC accounts for roughly 5% of BC’s economy. Research alone has generated 149 spin-off companies, 95% based in BC, that have generated more than $4 billion in sales and 40,000 person-years in employment. And all those numbers are rising fast. Ranked 22nd among the world’s top 100 universities according to a 2012 ranking, the university is an innovation centre in the region and a global centre for research and teaching. Key to this is being connected to other regional innovation centers, satellite locations, business hubs and to faculty, staff and students. To help promote that connectivity — as well as create a more sustainable community — the university has put into place a series of innovative programs to reduce automobile trips to and from its Vancouver campus and encourage biking, cycling, carpooling and, most successfully, public transit. UBC is also creating UTown@UBC, a vibrant, sustainable residential community on campus that is already home to 18,000 students, faculty, staff and other residents — former commuters who now walk or bike to class or work. The results are impressive. Since 1997, transit trips to and from the campus have almost quadrupled (from 19,000 per weekday to 74,800) and now
make up 54% of all trips. In the same period, single-occupant vehicle trips have decreased 14%, despite a 43% increase in the daytime population. These successes, however, have put increasing strain on the current transportation system, especially along the Broadway corridor. “It’s not that TransLink isn’t trying to put the buses out to UBC,” says Nancy Knight, Associate VP of Campus and Community Planning at UBC. “They are. But you just can’t put enough buses there. Which means that you have to move to the next level of capacity — just to service the existing transit demand, let alone help us grow that demand.” Warwick and other students are frustrated by the situation. “Buses on Broadway alone are carrying 114,000 people every day,” he says. “And TransLink admits that it passes up 2,000 passengers in the UBC– Broadway corridor every day. How long can this go on— twenty years? It’s unacceptable.”
www.greenspacebc.com Business in Vancouver Magazine Division
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