Global Learning Forum 2017 Site Visits

• Where: Simon Fraser University’s “UniverCity”
• When: Tuesday, May 16 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Address: SFU Community Trust 130 – 8960 University High Street, Burnaby, BC
• Transportation: Participants will need to arrange their own transportation to and from SFU UniverCity. Transit is recommended.

Simon Fraser University’s home campus, UniverCity sits atop Burnaby Mountain and has been designed to be a “complete community” that doubles as a living laboratory where students can learn first hand and new innovations can be implemented. It is a planning project but also a governance project, an economic microcosm, and above all else, a community. With amenities ranging from a daycare and a school through to lecture halls and labs, UniverCity is a home and workplace for all stages of life–from birth to retirement. On this tour, participants will learn about the opportunities for district and distributed energy systems and energy efficiency and the benefits of protecting greenspace and developing compact neighbourhoods.

For more information, see the SFU UniverCity homepage or the Grist.org article, “The UniverCity project: An experiment in suburban urbanism“. A major portion of this site visit is outdoors, participants should dress for the weather.

(image credits: SFU UniverCity)

• Where: Vancity Credit Union head office
• When: Friday, May 19 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Transportation: Participants will depart the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver with a guide and walk to Vancity’s head office. The walk takes approximately 25 minutes. Following the site visit, the guide will return participants to the Four Season Hotel Vancouver.

Vancity, Canada’s largest credit union, is saving energy and money through smart heat recovery measures at its corporate headquarters in Vancouver.

Tour this award-winning heat recovery system with the engineer who designed it, Scott Sinclair of SES Engineering. Since January 2015, this Heat Reclaim project has achieved a 97% reduction in annual gas consumption, a 75% reduction in GHG emissions, and 35% in domestic hot water needs. All this with a payback of 6.3 years. It’s not business as usual to use a heat recovery chiller in this manner but there are exciting opportunities for broader applications in the futures.

For more information, see SES Consulting’s project webpage.

(image credits: The Globe & Mail)

• Where: Multiple locations, by bike
• When: Friday, May 19 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Transportation: Participants will depart the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver with a guide for a short walk to a nearby square to pick up bikes (provided by Vancouver’s new bike share, Mobi by Shaw Go).

Vancouver has made great strides forward to become a “cycling city”, but what’s behind this success and how have the city’s different communities come along? Join Chris and Melissa Bruntlett of Modacity for an interactive tour of Vancouver’s bikability, by bike. The tour touches on the Burrard Bridge pilot, “bikelash” and the business community’s changing perspective, shifting ridership numbers and demographics, the reimagining of Robson Square, and the recent launch of Vancouver’s new bike sharing system, Mobi. Participants should dress appropriately for the weather and expect to cycle up to 13 kilometers for a tour of approximately two hours in duration.

Tentative map:

For more information, visit Modacity’s webpage.

(image credits: Paul Krueger)