The University of British Columbia
PAE-5: Climate Action Plan

The Climate Action Plan is the result of a multi-year planning process. Over 200 UBC students, staff, faculty and community members contributed expertise and recommendations to the UBC Climate Action Plan. UBC President Stephen Toope announced the Climate Action Plan targets on March 24, 2010, committing UBC to ambitious campus-wide GHG reductions. Compared to the 2007 emissions baseline, GHG emissions at UBC will be reduced 33 percent by 2015, 67 percent by 2020, and 100 percent by 2050. To achieve the target of reducing emissions to 67% below 2007 levels by 2020, UBC will focus on converting to a sustainable energy system on campus and decoupling energy use from GHG emissions through the deployment of renewable technologies. This target will be met through fuel switching from natural gas to renewable sources. To achieve the target of reducing emissions by 100% below 2007 levels by 2050, UBC will eliminate Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions from campus activities through the implementation of a carbon neutral energy supply. Residual emissions will be negated through the export of energy to a portion of the UBC community resulting in a net energy positive campus.

UBC has defined the strategies that will help achieve the short-term target of 33 percent reduction by 2015: • Generating clean heat and electricity through the UBC Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Project will reduce campus GHG emissions by 9 percent. • Optimizing building performance through retro-commissioning and improving behaviour change programs will reduce campus GHG emissions by 10 percent. • Converting the district heating system from steam to hot water will reduce campus GHG emissions by 22 percent. The Climate Action Plan also identifies specific GHG emissions reductions strategies in the areas of: • Campus Development and Infrastructure • Energy Supply and Management • Fleets and Fuel Use • Travel and Procurement • Food • Transportation