Sustainability

building one

Sŋéqə ʔéʔləŋ (Sngequ House) is the perfect place to host eco-friendly meetings and events.

Constructed in 2023, the new conference centre demonstrates UVic’s commitment to climate action and sustainability. Design and construction of the new buildings meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) V4 Gold and Passive House standards, the most rigorous global building standards for sustainability and energy efficiency. Passive House design principles aim to reduce energy consumption, GHG emissions, maintenance costs, and replacement costs by investing in a higher performing building envelope.

Green building features

  • Passive House design principles aim to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, maintenance & replacement costs by investing in a higher-performing building envelope
  • Use of mass timber as a key component of the building construction to reduce carbon footprint
  • The conference centre is serviced by the electrified kitchen in Cheko'nien House to reduce overall GHG emissions by 80% compared to natural gas
  • Triple glazed windows with strategic solar shading automatically open & close to keep inside temperature comfortable
  • Heat recovery ventilation to reduce the need for space heating
  • Electric air source heat pumps to reduce GHGs for hot water heating by 88%
  • Trained staff responsible for sorting, composting & recycling all waste, without a garbage can in view
  • Campus Greenway extended between the two new buildings and as far as Parking Lot 5

Waste diversion

  • We have a diversion rate of over 84%
  • Unique sorting methods are used to ensure waste is put in appropriate streams (recycling, composting, garbage)
  • The kitchen has a 3 pail system for waste streams (organics, recyclables & garbage), whereas many kitchens put everything into the garbage
  • All end of meal food trays are sorted by staff to ensure 100% of plastics are diverted from the landfill
  • No available recycling, composting or garbage bins available for customer use as UNFS outlets to ensure as much waste as possible is property sorted by our trained staff