British Columbia Institute of Technology
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

BCIT strives to be at the forefront of changing technology and the state-of-practice relevant to the success and competitiveness of the employer community. Student research activities are a key component. BCIT is committed to developing student competencies in research activities, including sourcing and assessing potential research projects, conducting research activities in an ethical manner, respecting BCIT practices that define research projects, working collaboratively with faculty, outside organizations, and other students in research teams, and presenting the results of research in a professional manner. Key student sustainability research initiatives are the Student Innovation Challenge, undergraduate research awards, and the MITACS program.

Student Innovation Challenge

BCIT’s Student Innovation Challenge is an annual contest aimed at providing support, encouragement and funding to BCIT students who have “bright ideas”. Since its founding, the Student Innovation Challenge has inspired interesting and innovative students and projects. Multidisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged. The Challenge has three Categories:

1. Sustainability (innovative ideas or projects contributing to sustainability)
2. Applied Research (innovative project solving a real world problem)
3. Entrepreneurship (innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, and commercial products)

Cash prizes in each category are 1st Prize – $3,000, 2nd Prize – $1,500, 3rd Prize – $500.

https://www.bcit.ca/applied-research/students/innovate/

2023 Sustainability winners:

• First place ($5000) went to Jimmy Bates, Sahil Heer, Stephen Cyr, and Tom Kuzma, School of Energy, for their project “Fish-CenS.”
• Second place ($1500) was awarded to Henning Grote, School of Business and Media, for his project “Dish-Re-Dish”
• Third place ($500) went to Doug Setter, School of Business and Media, for his project “Food Expiry App.” 

More past winners: https://www.bcit.ca/applied-research/students/innovate/past-winners/

Undergraduate Student Research Awards

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) provides Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) to students in the natural sciences and engineering. NSERC is the Canadian federal research funding agency mandated to promote and support postsecondary-based research and training in the natural sciences and engineering. Research priority areas include Environmental Science and Natural Resources.

BCIT’s allocation of NSERC USRA for the 2023/2024 academic year was five, plus an unlimited number of awards for self-identified Indigenous or Black student researchers. To be eligible, all applicants must be Bachelor students. These awards provide students with financial support of $6,000 for a full 16-week period.

More information on research funding opportunities for students at BCIT: https://www.bcit.ca/applied-research/students/funding-opportunities/

MITACS

Mitacs is a federal funding organization that builds cooperative partnerships that link expertise in post-secondary institutions to needs in industry and society. Mitacs-funded research helps to strengthen local and international collaborations, improve economic performance, and create jobs. The Mitacs Accelerate program helps build applied research partnerships with businesses and not-for-profits through internships for students and postdocs.

Sample BCIT projects: 

• Baseline inventory of key biophysical and geomorphological features along the Lulu Island foreshore and the potential effects of sea level rise on marsh vegetation communities and restoration efforts
• Multi-spectral Forestry Mapping for First Nations using RPAS (Drones)
• Comparative Building Life-Cycle Performance of Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) Vs. Wood-Frame Construction Phase I: Energy Performance
• Harrison River Watershed Salmon Habitat Restoration Assessment

Also, in collaboration with Mitacs and BCIT, Clear Skies launched an Indigenous Internship Program to include Traditional Knowledge in research in the impacts of marine shipping on coastal communities in Canada. https://commons.bcit.ca/news/2022/03/indigenous-internship-program/

Unlike research-intensive universities, BCIT’s role in research is characterized by our direct interaction with industry as providers of innovation and solutions for current and emerging industry problems and our deep commitment to developing learners that can supply the needs of industry. Our strategic research objective is to continue along that path while increasing and enhancing student participation in research and enhancing the role of interdisciplinary research groups within BCIT’s educational programs. This two-fold approach can only be accomplished by growing on the existing success of both research and education at BCIT, by combining the strengths of both areas and by fostering an environment that is beneficial to researchers, faculty, students, staff and industry. Key faculty sustainability research initiatives are the Green Value Fund and Institute research funds.

Green Value Strategies in Development Applied Research Endowment

The School of Construction and the Environment (SOCE) offers applied research funding through its Advancing Green Value Strategies in Development Endowment. The intention of this endowment is to support applied research to advance the state of practice in sustainable development: concerned with the natural environment, the built environment and the relationship between them.

The fund is a $1.2 million dollar endowment including generous donations by the Real Estate Foundation of BC and BC Housing. Funds can be used to initiate, leverage or augment a research project. Interdisciplinary research led by a SOCE faculty/researcher is encouraged. Projects should promote green value in development and “will include” but are not limited to a range of criteria including:

1. educating environmental stewardship practitioners;
2. influencing stakeholders through applied research, partnerships, and demonstrations;
3. creating community models to generate dialogue, innovation, collaboration and technology transfer;
4. sharing insights about greening the development industry – where economic efficiency and green development/land use decisions intersect;
5. influencing standards of practice and public policy (e.g. pertaining to: green roofs, ecological restoration, energy systems applications, GIS/Geomatics, climate change, civil engineering, sustainable infrastructure management).

Projects should further promote green value in development by responding to one of the themes articulated in the SOCE’s Sustainability Framework:

• protect and strengthen assets
• balance use and renewal of resources
• account for all costs and benefits
• reduce waste and eliminate toxicants
• ensure safety and access to services
• support opportunities for improvement and enjoyment

More information on each theme can be found at: https://www.bcit.ca/construction-environment/about-the-school/sustainability/.

In 2024, a portion of the Endowment was allocated to help support faculty driven research projects that fit within the Living Lab Capital Projects Initiative. This Initiative uses an inquiry-based pedagogy that centers the student experience and strives to create space for learners to critically think and follow their own path of exploration. The goal is to break down silos, finding interdisciplinary connections where students can approach problems faced by the construction industry from a multifaceted lens and share their findings with the greater educational community and industry.

These Capital Projects open a unique opportunity to integrate curriculum and research directly into BCIT’s built environment and include:

• Tall Timber Student Housing – a 470 bed student housing building that uses mass timber technology to provide sustainable and affordable housing for future students. https://www.bcit.ca/sustainability/living-labs/initiatives-projects/#ttshproject
• Trades and Technology Complex – a multi building project anchored by the Concert Properties Centre for Trades and Technology. https://www.bcit.ca/sustainability/living-labs/initiatives-projects/#tradesandtech
• Daylighting of Guichon Creek https://commons.bcit.ca/news/2024/01/daylit-guichon-creek/ https://www.bcit.ca/files/construction/sustainability/pdf/green_value_strategies.pdf

Institute Research Funds

Institute Research Funds (IRF) allow BCIT employees to pursue research initiatives for which they are unable to obtain funding from other sources or to allow researchers to leverage institute funds to obtain research funding from external agencies and partners that they would otherwise be unable to access. IRF funding can be used to fund partial release time for researchers and students assisting with their projects. Projects are frequently collaborative, across BCIT Schools and departments and with external partners. In 2023/24, funding was approved for the following new sustainability research projects:

• Mr. Forrest Bjornson and Ms. Lisa Henault, Faculty, Natural Resources and Engineering, School of Construction and the Environment, $25,000 for the project “Thermal refugia for salmonids in a changing climate: Integrating findings to prioritize ecological restoration methods”.
• Dr. Yvette Jones, Project Leader, MAKE+ and Ms. Joey Dabell, Project Leader, SMART, Applied Research, $25,000 for the project “Creating an equitable and inclusive experience for fully accessible EV charging”.

A full list of funded research can be found at: https://www.bcit.ca/applied-research/research-funding/institute-research-funds/

The BCIT Library has several customized guides for online library research focused on sustainability. There are general guides covering the subject areas of sustainability, the seed library and Indigenous resources. There are also program specific guides for students in the Ecological Restoration, Fish & Wildlife/Forest Management, and Sustainable Business Leadership. These guides can be found at: https://libguides.bcit.ca/.

The Library subscribes to most major databases and journal collections focused on sustainability, including AGRICOLA, ENVIROnetBASE, Environment Complete, Indigenous Studies Portal, and JSTOR. Access to these materials is through the list of Databases found at: https://libguides.bcit.ca/az.php.

The Library and Learning & Teaching Centre also offer scholarship and research support through the Food for Thought series of lunch and learns and have offered scholarly publishing talks and workshops for BCIT academic staff. Many of the Food for Thought sessions are recorded and available on the BCIT Mediaspace site for viewing. For example, Dr. Russell Hartlaub presented on the Green Economy and the Search for Critical Minerals February 8, 2024.

https://mediaspace.bcit.ca/media/The+Green+Economy+and+the+Search+for+Critical+Minerals/0_8ivrbl9b