Campus as a Living Lab ‘Grand Challenge’: three recipients share $600k in funding

At the heart of UBC's Campus as a Living Lab (CLL) initiative lies a transformative concept: leveraging the unique campus environment as a collaborative framework for researchers, students, staff and external partners.

This approach enables the rapid exploration, development and testing of innovative ideas, with the campus serving as both a testbed and a showcase for sustainability solutions. It emphasizes the integration of academic research, operations, community engagement, and supports UBC’s commitment to equity and inclusion.

 

 

Blending creativity and research excellence
to address the climate emergency

The CLL Grand Challenge called for visionary approaches to how British Columbia and Canada can effectively respond and adapt to the climate emergency. 

This year's competition, attracting faculty and staff from more than 22 academic departments and operational units across UBC Vancouver and Okanagan, showcased an incredible array of innovative proposals, blending creativity with research excellence. 

With a total funding pool of $600,000, including two $250,000 awards for UBC Vancouver Campus teams, and one $100,000 award for a UBC Okanagan Campus team, the competition raised the standard for developing impactful research ideas.

Managed by the Sustainability Hub, the CLL Grand Challenge proposals underwent a detailed peer-review process by faculty and staff, and evaluations by the respective UBC Vancouver and Okanagan Campus Living Lab Steering Committees, who made the final funding decisions.

"The dedication of our researchers, campus operations staff, and our interdisciplinary partnerships to sustainability and innovation was vividly reflected in the projects submitted to the Campus as a Living Lab Grand Challenge competition. We look forward to seeing the impact of the Grand Challenge winning projects as they advance our collective response to the climate emergency." – Rachel Fernandez, Associate Vice-President, Research and Innovation

 

Three innovative projects, strengthening 
UBC’s sustainability leadership

The recipients of the CLL Grand Challenge are as follows:

 

Project: Bioenergy from commercial-municipal organic waste

GRAND CHALLENGE AWARD: $250K

This innovative project at UBC Vancouver explores the potential of utilizing aerobically treated organic waste from municipal green bin programs as a sustainable biomass source for UBC's Bioenergy Research Demonstration Facility (BRDF). 

The team will address the dual challenges of efficient waste management and sustainable energy production, demonstrating a practical solution to enhance UBC’s operational sustainability.

Priority area: Sustainable Innovations
Faculty lead: Naoko Ellis, Professor, Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Staff lead: Jason Rako, People and Process Manager, Energy and Water Services, UBC Facilities Group, Thermal Plant Chief Engineer
Co-lead: Sergio Berretta, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Co-lead: Xiaotao (Tony) Bi, Professor, Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

 

Project: Resilience hubs for UBC campus communities

GRAND CHALLENGE AWARD: $250K

This visionary project at UBC Vancouver focuses on enhancing campus resilience in response to climate hazards, aligning with the Campus Vision 2050 Plan. It will develop a resilience hub framework to strengthen community connections and emergency support, and create a disaster risk reduction roadmap to improve UBC’s operational response to climate emergencies. 

By integrating multidisciplinary research and operational expertise, the team will support UBC’s long-term resilience planning, addressing key priorities in climate emergency preparedness and community wellbeing.

Priority area: Climate Action and Resilience
Faculty lead: Stephanie Chang, Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES)
Staff lead: Hailey Maxwell, Manager, Emergency Management & Continuity Planning, Safety & Risk Services
Co-lead: Steven Weijs, Associate Professor, Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Civil Engineering 

 

Project: Smart fire detection systems to improve wildfire resilience of UBCO campus

GRAND CHALLENGE AWARD: $100K

This pioneering project at UBC Okanagan is set to develop advanced, integrated fire-detection systems using multi-sensor networks for early wildfire detection and hotspots risk assessment. 

The team aims to deliver a machine learning-enhanced digital dashboard that will forecast wildfire threats, guiding effective mitigation strategies. Implementing these systems in pilot buildings will significantly boost UBCO's wildfire preparedness and response.

Priority area: Climate Action and Resilience
Faculty lead: Qian Chen, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering
Staff lead: Roger Bizzotto, Associate Director, Facilities Management
Co-lead: Shahria Alam, Professor, School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering

"UBC Okanagan is at the forefront of tackling climate challenges. The CLL Grand Challenge winning project -- Smart fire detection systems to improve wildfire resilience of UBCO campus -- stands as a testament to our commitment to innovative and sustainable solutions, seamlessly integrating advanced technology and environmental stewardship to safeguard our campus and community." – Miranda Hart, Professor and Chair of CLL Steering Committee (Okanagan)

 

Looking forward

This year's CLL Grand Challenge is a testament to the power of collaborative innovation and the pursuit of research excellence at UBC. The scale of funding and the calibre of the projects selected this year reflect UBC's unwavering dedication to being at the forefront of tackling critical sustainability issues and climate change challenges.

"We are very excited by the opportunity that these innovative projects will provide to advance research and contribute to operational solutions for climate action and resiliency at UBC and beyond." – John Metras, Associate Vice-President, Facilities, UBC

The Sustainability Hub welcomes inquiries from faculty and operational experts to explore future CLL projects and opportunities, within and beyond the framework of the competition. The annual CLL Fund Competition will open again for project proposals in September 2024.  
For more information about the UBC Campus as a Living Lab initiative or the CLL Fund Competition, please contact the CLL management team at CLL.Team@ubc.ca