Afresh Home Sustainable Garden

Thanks to a the grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, a sustainable residential garden was built on the Burnaby Campus. The garden is located in the backyard of the Afresh home, which is a demonstration house that showcases innovations in sustainable housing construction and energy efficiency. The Afresh home is visited by many students and externals and the addition of the garden will allow visitors to learn about the importance of following green practices in their own yards. Additionally, the garden was a great addition to the Campus during BCIT’s 50^th anniversary.

The concept behind the sustainable garden demonstration project was to introduce a template of sustainable landscape practices which members of BCIT’s community can benefit from, while improving the landscape of the area. The goal in showcasing these approaches is to highlight the environmental, social and economic benefits of these systems and practices so that they may be incorporated in the residential or commercial environment.

Areas which the sustainable landscape design highlights are:

• Reduced energy consumption and waste generation, through a rain garden, rain barrel, native plants and composting
• Creation of habitat for wildlife and pollinators, introduction of mason bees and companion plants
• Maximized production for small spaces by installing raised bed gardens and vertical gardens

The garden is accompanied with an educational sign that explains the role of each component.

 

Photo Before:

 Photos After:

 

 

Above: the latest addition to our garden – Mason Bee Hives!  Why have we installed the hives using such a structure.  Mason bees like to wake-up with the sun in the morning (we needed a wall facing East but did not have one) and do best when the hives are under a small overhang.

A special thank you goes to

• • BCIT Facilities and Campus Development department for all your help with this project;
  • BCIT’s piping department for helping with the installation of the rain barrel;
  • BCIT’s Centre for Architectural Ecology for providing materials;
  • City of Burnaby for providing a subsidy on the rain barrel and the composter;

And last but not least, a big thank you goes to the TD Bank Friends of the Environment Foundation for providing financial support.  This project would not have been possible without this program.

We are looking forward to spending time in the garden with all of you!

 

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