Awards and Recognition
UBC Okanagan has earned national and international recognition for its leadership in sustainable campus development, energy efficiency and green building design.
From LEED® and Passive House certifications to repeated recognition as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers, these awards highlight the campus’s long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and innovation.
2025
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Canada’s Greenest Employers—14th consecutive year
2024
-
Canada’s Greenest Employers—13th consecutive year
2023
- Canada’s Greenest Employers—12th consecutive year
- LEED Gold Certification for Nechako Residence and Commons Block.
2022
- Passive House Certification – Skeena Residence
- Canada’s Greenest Employers – 11th consecutive year
2021
- Skeena Residence – Canadian Green Building Awards (SABMag)
- Skeena Residence – BC Wood Design: Environmental Performance Award
- Canada’s Greenest Employers – 10th consecutive year
2020
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Canada’s Greenest Employers – 9th consecutive year
2019
- CleanBC Net-Zero Energy-Ready Challenge—Skeena Residence
- Canada’s Greenest Employers—8th consecutive year
2018
- Canada’s Greenest Employers—8th consecutive year
2016
- LEED® Gold Certification—Engineering, Management and Education Building
2013
- LEED® Gold Certification—Reichwald Health Sciences Centre
2012
- Thompson Okanagan Commercial Building Awards—Purcell Residence & Geo-Exchange System
- Five Green Globes—Arts and Sciences Centre, and Fipke Centre
- FortisBC Conservation Excellence Awards—Multiple facilities
- REAP Gold—Purcell Student Residence
- SICA Construction Review Feature
2011
- FortisBC PowerSense Award—Purcell Student Residence
2010
- City of Kelowna Mayor’s Environmental Achievement Award—Most Sustainable Development.
- The Mayor’s Environmental Achievement Awards recognize individuals and groups who have made outstanding or innovative contributions to the protection or management of the environment.
- Five Green Globes awarded to the Arts and Sciences Centre.
- Canadian Construction Association’s Gold Seal Project Award of Recognition for the Engineering Management and Education Building.
2009
- FortisBC PowerSense Conservation Excellence Award for University Centre with an estimated savings of 1,125,000 kWh per year.
2008
- FortisBC PowerSense Conservation Excellence Award for Cascade Student Residence and Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research.
- UBC Okanagan earned a from the Ministry of Children and Family Development WorklifeBC recognition for its work in creating a flexible workplace that supports employees to balance work and life commitments.
- UBC Okanagan received an Award of Merit for the B.C. Interior, in the category of Large Workplace (more than 250 employees).
2007
- Five Green Globes awarded to Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada, an award reserved for designs serving as national or world leaders in energy and environmental performance.
Sustainable building standards certification definitions
Explore the definitions below to learn more about the standards behind the awards listed above and how each contributes to high-performance, environmentally responsible building design.
Passive House is an internationally recognized certification program developed by the Passive House Institute (PHI) that sets a high-performance standard for energy-efficient building design, construction, and operation.
Passive House focuses on minimizing energy use while maximizing comfort and indoor air quality by meeting rigorous performance criteria in the following key areas:
- thermal insulation
- airtight building envelope
- high-performance windows and doors
- heat recovery ventilation
- minimized thermal bridging
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
LEED promotes a holistic approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health, which include:
- sustainable site development
- water efficiency
- energy efficiency
- materials selection
- indoor environmental quality
LEED certification is awarded at four levels based on the number of points a project earns across these categories:
- Certified
- Silver
- Gold (e.g. UBC Okanagan’s Nechako Residence)
- Platinum
Each tier reflects a deeper commitment to environmental stewardship and building performance.
Green Globes is a revolutionary green building guidance and assessment program that offers an effective, practical and affordable way to advance the overall environmental performance and sustainability of commercial buildings. It recognizes buildings that improve energy and environmental performance in the following areas:
- management
- energy
- emissions
- site
- water resources
- indoor environment