Live Green: Climate Action for Student Residents

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The global climate crisis requires strong collective action, including right here at UBC.

The university has set ambitious targets to cut down our operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce the carbon footprint from our entire community. To reach these goals, we need your help.

Within UBC, Student Housing and Community Services (SHCS) has been working hard to advance the university’s goals in five key areas: buildings, food systems, waste, transportation and engagement.

Buildings

Did you know?

21% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are from the building sector.

97% of UBC’s emissions from operations are from operating buildings.

What we’re doing

Building new energy-efficient residences

All new residence projects are built to a minimum of LEED Gold.

Making existing residences more energy efficient

  • Replacing gas-fired heating systems with electric heat pumps—which alone reduces our annual CO2 emissions by thousands of tonnes.
  • Upgrading lighting to LEDs.
  • Installing low flow shower heads to reduce hot water consumption.
  • Modernizing our building management systems to improve efficiency.

Learn more about the sustainability features in your residence building.

What you can do

  • Close windows before you leave your room/unit.
  • Turn off the lights when you’re not using them, especially before bed.
  • Unplug your computer and phone once they are charged.
  • Turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater.
  • Wash your clothes in cold water—it cleans just as well!
  • Take shorter showers.

Get more energy saving tips

Find out more about how we can work together to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from UBC buildings.

Food systems

Did you know?

About a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is linked to food.

Here at UBC, our food systems—things like buying and preparing food, and dealing with food waste—account for about three quarters of the university’s emissions from operations.

What we’re doing

Climate-friendly menus

We’re making it easier to choose low-emission foods by offering plenty of plant-based menu options and using climate-friendly food labels on our menus.

Sustainable ingredients

We source from local suppliers including the UBC Farm. All our seafood is Ocean Wise certified, and the coffee and chocolate we serve is Fair Trade.

Less food and packaging waste

We partner with Vancouver Food Runners to share surplus food with people in need, reducing waste and the emissions they cause. All our outlets have Sort It Out stations to help you properly sort food waste.

What you can do

  • Choose plant-based meals and lower emission meat more often.
  • Look for climate-friendly food labels.
  • Take only what you’ll eat in our dining halls and sort any waste correctly.
  • Get takeout on campus instead of getting food delivered.
  • Cook with local, seasonal ingredients.
  • Pack a travel mug and reusable water bottle.

Get more climate-friendly food tips

Find out more about how we can work together to support a climate-friendly food system at UBC.

Zero waste

Did you know?

18% of methane emissions worldwide are from landfills and wastewater.

With nearly 14,000 students living in residence at UBC, we collectively produce a lot of waste.

What we’re doing

Convenient waste sorting stations

Sort It Out composting and recycling stations are in every residence building and around campus.

Circular economy

We run a Mindful Market for students moving into residence, and a Mindful Move Out campaign to make it easier for students to donate and recycle items they no longer need.

Reduce

The UBC Bookstore offers reusable drinkware options to help students produce less waste.

In 2025, we will be piloting a new reusable container system at our Hero Coffee Harvest Market location in Brock Commons.

What you can do

Learn more about UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan

Find out how UBC is prioritizing emission reductions from waste and expanding opportunities for circular economy.

Transportation

Did you know?

25% of greenhouse gas emissions globally are related to transportation.

Every month, 175,000+ cars are parked on campus.

What we’re doing

Building more on-campus housing

By providing more housing on campus, we help reduce the need for commuting, cutting down on transportation emissions.

Sustainable transportation

We encourage eco-friendly ways to get to, from and around campus, such as walking, cycling, bike share, transit, car share, carpooling and more.

EV charging stations

We’ve installed 75 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in many parkades on campus.

Clean energy

Solar energy is used to fuel electric vehicles and produce green hydrogen fuel. Learn more about our innovative Smart Hydrogen Energy District.

Zero-emission vehicles

When we add or replace vehicles in our fleets, we aim for zero-emission options, including electric and hydrogen vehicles.

What you can do

  • Live on campus—by living where you study, you’re reducing commuting emissions.
  • Join UBC’s bike share programs to get around and off-campus quickly and sustainably.
  • Use your U-Pass and transit to get around the city.

Learn more about sustainable transportation at UBC

Find out how UBC is encouraging and empowering more sustainable modes of transportation.

Student engagement

Did you know?

Large organizations like UBC can have a positive impact on carbon emissions, and we are working hard to get to net zero.

We can’t do it alone—getting every one of the roughly 80,000 students, faculty and staff at UBC Vancouver involved is critical to our success.

What we’re doing

Raising awareness

We’re educating and empowering our residents and community on how to take meaningful action.

Ongoing training

Enhancing the way we integrate sustainability action into our onboarding and continuous education for staff, to ensure everyone is aligned with our climate goals.

Supporting new ideas

We have a Residence Sustainability Enhancement Fund that supports student-led initiatives. Have ideas on making campus more sustainable? We’re all ears!

What you can do

How we measure success

We regularly measure the success of our sustainability and climate efforts, using UBC’s ambitious sustainability and CAP 2030 goals as our primary metric, and drawing on everything from real-time building energy data and greenhouse gas emissions data to residence waste data and residence survey data.

We do this in close collaboration with teams across SHCS and our partners at UBC Sustainability, Campus and Community Planning, and UBC Facilities.