Visiting Evolv1: A Net Positive Energy Building
Our first field trip of the semester was to the Evolv1 building, the first of its kind in Canada to achieve a net positive energy output. After a short city bus ride from the University, the students were ready to explore the development and see how this sustainable construction worked. The tour of the building included only the main floor but it was enough to get a detailed explanation of the main features of the development. Although it was a rainy day we also had the chance to see the outside design, the parking with solar panels and the solar thermal wall. However, one of the features that was particularly interesting for the students was the “living wall”, which features over 4,000 tropical plants and provides visual and functional properties. The rainwater collected in cisterns maintain the wall. They explained to us that it also contributes to the “sustainable culture” of the building as the employers feel in contact with nature.
The idea of Evolv1 was innovative not only because they foster sustainable technologies and use mostly local materials but because they promote a sustainable culture among those occupying the building. This is relevant as the construction is not only an engineer promise but a way to change how people think and act towards sustainability. The students were happy to see in real life how a net positive energy construction worked and the best part is that it is located just a few minutes away from University.
The students keep preparing for their research and presentation by listening to more guest speakers. Scott Keller and Tyler Van Herzele from Laurier’s Workplace Partnershipscame for the second time to our class to talk to the students on how to become better at presenting and handling questions from an audience. They participated in an interesting activity in which the students each had to prepare a 2-minute pitch trying to sell the benefits of “the internet” to an 80’s audience. They had a lot of fun and learned to recognize how to present to different audiences. The second guest speaker of the class was the WLU librarian, Peter Genzinger, who showed the students how to research for academic articles on Net Zero. All this is very useful for the students' future presentation and report!