B.C. students design 'Instagram worthy' carbon-minimal building out of hemp

A B.C. university has unveiled a new teaching and learning space that it believes to be one of Canada's first carbon-minimal institutional buildings—and the first of its kind to be designed by students.

In a news release Thursday, the University of British Columbia said the "Instagram worthy" building is made using hempcrete, which is a composite material made of hemp and lime.

"The bright and airy 2,400-square-foot wood frame building, called Third Space Commons, emitted nearly zero carbon emissions during construction—a feat that many view to be the final frontier facing carbon emissions reductions across the global building industry," the release reads.

The innovative addition to UBC's Vancouver campus was designed and built by Third Quadrant Design — a team of 60 students made up of predominantly women.

"Third Quadrant Design is a women-founded team that continues to be 60 per cent women since its first year," UBC said, adding that virtually all of the materials, construction techniques and design elements for the project were chosen for their abilities to lower or even capture carbon emissions.

"We sought to create an addition to campus that encourages interdisciplinary action on climate change, both as an example and through its eventual use,” said UBC student and the project's architecture lead Katie Theall.

The university said the thermal insulation is made out of hempcrete, which captures carbon from the atmosphere as it sets. It then turns into a concrete-like material that's made primarily out of a renewable, carbon-sequestering natural fibre.

"Construction waste is an issue we wanted to tackle. We sourced our materials sustainably, prioritizing the adaptive reuse of materials from other construction sites in Vancouver where possible. Our windows, solar panels, appliances and much of our lumber was on its way to a landfill," said civil engineering student and construction lead Peter Ehrlich, adding that real concrete is virtually absent from the project.

They also used light wood framing for the majority of the building instead of engineered wood, which is manufactured using glues derived from fossil fuels.

"The team worked hard to account for the carbon impact of every material element of the project — perhaps the first in B.C. and possibly in Canada to have done so," said Dr. Adam Rysanek, an assistant professor of architecture who advises the team.

"Typical emissions estimates in the construction industry consider only about 40 to 60 per cent of a building's total materials due to a lack of established standards for measuring the rest," Rysanek added. 

The design team was recently recognized for its work through the inaugural B.C. Embodied Carbon Award for Small Building Construction by the BC Carbon Leadership Forum.

"In Third Quadrant Design, we see a tremendous example of our faculty's strategic priorities coming together," said Dr. James Olson, dean of the faculty of applied science. "It features a diverse, women-led student team that is supported by world-class faculty members, that partnered with industry, and constructed a beautiful building, and set a new standard for environmentally friendly facilities on campus."

Rysanek said the team hopes the new space helps to inspire the construction of future sustainable buildings in B.C. and beyond.

"With Third Space Commons we now have a prototype for how we can get to truly net-zero carbon in building design, particularly for low-rise homes, schools and multi-family dwellings," said Rysanek. "More than anything, the team is demonstrating how sustainability and regenerative design can lead to buildings that are both carbon-minimal and beautiful."