Sustainability at Royal Roads University

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 Since I will be discussing sustainability, I guess it is appropriate to examine what my University is doing to become more sustainable. Royal Roads University in Victoria BC has an interesting history. The campus contains many heritage buildings that have their own unique stories. These stories will not be told here (check the link below for some background on RRU). I will be focussing on the future of Royal Roads by looking at what the school is doing to become a more sustainable institution.

       

Let’s examine the sustainability plan that Royal Roads from 2008. The goals of the plan are quite ambitious with a plan to reduce green house gases to 50% below 2007 levels by 2020, becoming carbon neutral by 2010 and going off the grid by 2018; some very bold promises. There are more initiatives than I could properly explain in this post being worked on to become more sustainable and meet the set out goals. Rather than explain them all, I will discuss some of the big money big impact ideas; energy, transportation and buildings.

https://sustainability.royalroads.ca/sites/default/files/web_files/Sustainability_Plan_summary.pdf

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In order to meet energy goals, RRU is planning to build a waste water treatment plant. This will not only treat and clean wastewater from the school and neighbouring community, but the gases that are released by the treatment process will actually be used to produce electricity for the University and even put power back into the grid to help power neighbouring homes and businesses. This energy production will exceed the amount used by the school which will actually make the University grid positive. The school has just put solar hot water heaters on some of the buildings in order to reduce energy demand for the showers for staff and students furthering energy efficiency.

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 The next topic is the buildings on campus both new and old. The most notable feature of the university is Hatley Castle. The 100 year old castle looks gorgeous and compliments the scenery of the 500+ acres which make up the campus. Unfortunately, the heritage building isn’t exactly efficient. It is heated by a seriously noisy and inefficient radiator system (seriously, I wrote an exam in there and I could barely concentrate with all the clanking and creaking). The insulation, lighting, ventilation and hot water systems are all outdated and contribute to a lot of wasted energy. The school is planning to upgrade all the heritage buildings with over one million dollars in funding from the government. These upgrades will cover all of the above stated issues and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 317 tonnes a year and save $55 000 in energy savings! Not too shabby.

http://www.royalroads.ca/rru-news/royal-roads-gets-1-million-retrofit-its-heritage-buildings

http://www.royalroads.ca/news-release/1-million-awarded-royal-roads-help-save-energy-lower-emissions

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That covers the old building, but what about the new? Throughout my time at RRU, there has been a construction site at the front of the school. A new building has been in the process of being put up, the first new building on campus since 1995. When it is finished it will not only expand the learning space on campus but represents energy efficient building practices, built to LEED gold standards. The building is called the learning and innovation centre and features countless sustainable technologies. Emphasis on energy efficiency and green technology make the project a sustainable solution to need for more space for the ever growing student population at RRU. Check out the link below for all the details on the LIC!!!

http://www.royalroads.ca/about-rru/the-university/news-events/inroads-newsletter/2009-january/Royal-Roads-University-Learning-and-Innovation-Centre.htm

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The future Robert Bateman center is being planned for construction on the RRU campus. This building will be designed as a net zero building that is actually supposed to improve the natural environment. This sounds great in theory but it is far too early to talk about the greatness of this “educational building/art gallery”.  If you want to check out some of the ideas for the center, check out the following link!!

http://www.batemancentre.ca/pdf_v.php?pg=04

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Finally, it brings us to the thorn in the side of the RRU sustainability plan, transportation.  Nancy Wilkin, the director of the office of sustainability, spoke in my class recently. We discussed with her some ideas about sustainability on campus. Transportation was a huge issue that came up. Due to the location of Royal Roads, the majority of staff and students drive to campus. Unfortunately this accounts for a huge portion of the University’s carbon footprint. Speaking from experience, taking the bus to RRU is not great but it’s also not too bad. I live in the downtown Victoria area, getting to campus takes me about 40 min which I have no trouble with. It would seem however that there is no real incentive for most people to partake in the public transport. It currently is very cheap (cheaper in fact than my monthly bus pass) to park at the school. This literally provides no incentive for people to take alternate modes of transport. In order for the university to overcome this, new bus routes must be acquired in order to service RRU much more. Currently only one bus runs right into campus, this is the same bus that goes into the University of Victoria campus. This bus also bypasses most of downtown. I don’t understand the logic of having a bus go from University to University, how many people could possibly be commuting from school to school. It would make far more sense to have multiple bus routes enter the school campus from downtown and across the west shore (which also has poor bus service to the campus). Another factor would be to raise the cost of parking; there must be some sort of incentive to not want to drive...

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Anyways, the message here is that as an institution, Royal Roads University is doing more than their part and becoming a leader in sustainability. Again there are many more things that could have been touched on here from composting programs and recycling to carbon offsetting. Check out the first link for the detailed plan!!