BRITISH COLUMBIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
BCIT Guichon Restoration Creek Project Is Awarded Envision Platinum

BCIT's Guichon Creek Restoration project has earned an Envision Platinum award for sustainable infrastructure from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI). The project was prompted due to the formation of a sinkhole caused by a failing culvert on campus adjacent to one of the buildings on the south side of BCIT's Burnaby campus,. Urgent remediation works were recommended following a site visit that identified the sinkhole would likely grow, posing risks to infrastructure as well as life safety.

The BCIT Campus Plan was developed through extensive consultation and identified restoring Guichon Creek through daylighting projects, as a goal. When the Burnaby campus was developed, a section of Guichon Creek was culverted to flow underground from the south to north of campus.   The project leveraged this plan to develop a prompt strategy that would both address the current sinkhole and mitigate risks of future sinkholes.

This solution not only offered enhancements to campus with new green space, but also supported resilience strategies by removing the risk of future culvert failures and sizing the creek's capacity to accommodate 100-year storm events. Other benefits of the project included installing a fish ladder to support fish migration efforts, contributing to the campus's Living Labs program, and demonstrate BCIT's focus on sustainable solutions.

Sustainability is embedded into BCIT's Campus Plan, its Strategic Plan, its Stormwater Design Criteria and articulated in its Sustainability Vision. Embedded sustainability principles in BCIT's project delivery enabled the Guichon Creek Restoration project to be a good opportunity to Envision verification. BCIT's North Campus project previously applied Envision and was verified at a Gold Level under Envision Version 2.

Enhancing a wonderful local amentity

"Although born from an emergency response, this project became an important step in the larger revitalization of Guichon Creek," said Joe Cosh, BCIT Director of Facilities Improvements. "The Creek is more than a piece of infrastructure to BCIT; it's a valuable habitat for a host of native plants and animals, and a wonderful amenity for students and employees, as well as the neighboring community. Work in and around the Creek is always done with care and thoughtful stewardship and the Envision framework was a perfect partner in the process."

Embedding sustainability into project delivery

"This project is an example of an organization creating change by making sustainability a core principle," said Jill Roth, Vice President and Senior Consultant at luuceo consulting inc., who was the lead ENV SP on the project. "The groundwork was laid with the Campus Plan which allowed for a swift delivery project execution that not only addressed the issue of a sinkhole but also expanded access to nature on campus while enhancing resilience. BCIT's dedication is proof that embedding sustainability principles into project delivery does not have to create a burden."

"Congratulations to BCIT on earning Envision Platinum for the Guichon Creek Project," said Kailey Eldredge, ISI's Verification Director. "The project adds to improved quality of life improvements for the campus with an enhanced capacity design for Guichon Creek that also accommodates future climate-change conditions an outstanding example of using natural systems to address the infrastructure challenges of today."