Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.63
Liaison Dwayne Doornbosch
Submission Date June 24, 2021

STARS v2.2

Langara College
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Dwayne Doornbosch
Director Facilities
Facilities
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

1st Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
CityStudio Vancouver

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Not Sure

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:
Langara College is as academic partner, supporter and funder for CityStudio Vancouver. CityStudio brings together city staff, students, faculty and community members to create sustainable projects that make Vancouver more sustainable, livable, joyful, and inclusive place to live. Langara has co-created various projects and have run 35 sustainable courses in partnership with CityStudio since 2011. Four Langara students won the fall 2020 CityStudio HUBBUB 15, which is an event that showcases student projects that address local urban environmental topics.

The 2020 CityStudio HUBBUB 15 winning "Community Kelp" project was focused on combating ocean acidification with the use of kelp gardens, which sequester carbon thereby mitigating ocean acidification. The Community Kelp Gardens align with the City of Vancouver's sustainability strategies and Greenest City Action Plan, including reducing GHG emissions (Goal 1) and restoring ecosystems (Goal 5). Additionally, because of the water filtering properties of kelp, this project aligns with the City of Vancouver's Rain City Strategy goal of cleaning 90% of Vancouver's water.

For more information:
- CityStudio:
https://citystudiovancouver.com/what-we-do/
https://citystudiovancouver.com/partners/langara-college/
- Community Kelp:
https://citystudiovancouver.com/projects/community-kelp/
https://langara.ca/news-and-events/langara-news/2020/201214-langara-students-win-hubbub15.html
https://langara.ca/news-and-events/langara-community/story-4.html

2nd Partnership

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
KPMG Foundation funding for Student Sustainability Ambassador program

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Not Sure

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
The Sustainability Student Ambassadors (SSA) Program is the primary driver of sustainability education outreach and education activities at Langara College. Each term, a group of students are selected to volunteer as Sustainability Ambassadors. These Ambassadors work directly with a coordinator, which is a student co-op position hired by the College. The coordinator is responsible to train and guide students to envision, manage, and execute green projects in and around the campus. The funding for the co-op student position is made possible through ongoing financial assistance from the KPMG Foundation.

For more information about this, please see:
https://langara.ca/news-and-events/langara-news/2020/200429-sustainability-ambassadors.html

3rd Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Fortis BC

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Short-term project or event

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
Not Sure

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Fortis BC recently provided 100% incentive funding for a Feasibility Study for Langara College as part of FortisBC’s Custom Commercial Program. The feasibility study was focused on our heating plants and domestic hot water systems, exploring energy efficient and low carbon solutions. Additional funding is expected as we move to the next phase of the project - implementation.

https://www.fortisbc.com/rebates-and-energy-savings/rebates-and-offers/rebates-business?l=

Optional Fields 

A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
We have had a long standing relationship with BC Hydro. They funded an Energy Manager position at the college for 9 years. The College has also participated in BC Hydro's Continuous Optimization programs, which provides customer assistance to save energy and improve operations in large commercial buildings without having to undertake a major capital investment. Participation in the Continuous Optimization program includes most recently completing Phase 2 of the Program for our B Building on Campus - implementing real-time energy monitoring (Kaizen coppertree software). This work would not have been possible without the support and partnership with BC Hydro.

Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
https://langara.ca/about-langara/sustainability/initiatives/energy-management.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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