From the outset, UniverCity was envisioned as a different kind of master-planned community: a community founded on Four Cornerstones of Sustainability - Environment, Equity, Economy and Education. They continue to guide the development today, and can be summarized as follows:

Environment
Provide a full range of transportation choices;
Preserve and improve the natural heritage of Burnaby Mountain;
Design buildings and public spaces that respond to local context;
Provide sustainable, cost and resource efficient infrastructure and buildings.

Equity
Create a healthy, safe, livable and complete community;
Provide an appropriate mix of housing types and tenures that reflect the entire lifecycle.

Economy
Maximize the long-term value of SFU’s endowment fund;
Encourage opportunities for innovative commercial and community economic development by working with all stakeholders.

Education
Enhance university life, academic structure and activities;
Create a model sustainable community that educates and inspires residents to pursue lifelong learning.

Habitat Preservation
Significant investments were made to create strong links with the nature of the site, from its topography, watercourses and existing habitat to its magnificent mountaintop views. The UniverCity community has been designed to enhance and take advantage of its location adjacent to the extensive wilderness area that is the Burnaby Mountain Conservation area, one of the most significant parkland reserves in the Lower Mainland. The development of UniverCity was premised on the protection of more than 320 hectares of land to more than double the size of the conservation area. In addition,  the overall design of the community works to further enhance the natural habitat of the surrounding area through stormwater management, and local planting guidelines, among other initiatives.

New Green Building Requirements
UniverCity and the City of Burnaby have implemented a new set of zoning bylaws that include requirements for sustainable features and practices in all new developments. This is the first bylaw in North America that mandates specific green building practices as part of the development process. The outcome of these requirements will be buildings that are a minimum of 30% more efficient than traditional buildings.
 
The Trust also provides a density bonus for projects demonstrating leading edge enhancements in the areas of stormwater management an energy efficiency. A bonus of up to 10% additional density is available to those projects that address stormwater management through installation of intensive green roof technology or that decrease building energy consumption to 45% below that of a traditional building.

Stormwater Management: A UniverCity Success Story
Among the most successful of the many sustainable initiatives at UniverCity is the comprehensive stormwater management system. Designed as a combination of community-scale facilities and on-parcel storage and infiltration method, the system is designed to mimic nature by returning nearly 100 percent of stormwater to the ground instead of into conventional drainage pipes and storm  sewers. The objective is to maintain pre-development stormwater runoff quality and quantity so that downstream aquatic life is not adversely affected by the new development.

There are currently two detention ponds in the community along with an extensive network of open watercourses and bioswales. UnverCity’s stormwater system also includes off-grid water aeration for detention ponds provided by a windmill and solar bubblers and pervious pavers along the roads and sidewalks that direct stormwater into underlying infiltration chambers rather than into curbside catch basins.

Each parcel has a registered covenant requiring the developer and leaseholder to implement an on-site stormwater storage and infiltration system. These also include extensive requirements for permeable paving and landscaping strategies.

The Stormwater Management Plan is regularly monitored to ensure the system is continuously evolving.

Sustainable Transportation Options
The Trust is committed to creating a sustainable community through alternative transit options. The design of the community includes required bicycle parking services and an extensive network of trails and pathways to link homes with school, work, shopping, recreation, and other amenities. The Trust has also established a partnership with CAN, the Cooperative Auto Network, providing residents access to two communal automobiles on an hourly or daily basis, adding cars as the population grows.

In collaboration with TransLink, UniverCity offers residents access to the first Community Transit Pass in Canada. At less than one quarter of the regular cost, the pass gives residents access to public transit anywhere in the Lower Mainland. This is especially convenient given the community’s location adjacent to several major bus routes and in close proximity to the nearby SkyTrain rapid transit line.

Affordable Housing
To ensure that the community caters to a diverse range of income levels, the Trust is incorporating a variety of housing options. Given its location adjacent to a major university, UniverCity has taken care in providing a number of market rental housing units. They include purpose-built rental apartments in the Cornerstone building, as well as innovative legal secondary or “flex suites”  built into strata-titled apartments. Often referred to as ‘mortgage helpers’, these suites are equipped with bathroom and cooking facilities and can be rented out separately from the rest of the unit. The City of Burnaby was one of first municipalities in Canada to introduce these legalized secondary suites in a zoning bylaw.
 
In partnership with Vancity Enterprises and Resource Rethinking Building, the Trust has provided affordable ownership options within the 60-unit ‘Verdant’ development. Verdant offers family-oriented housing priced at 20 percent below market rates in a leading-edge sustainable building. Designed for SFU faculty and staff, units will continue to be resold at the discounted rates as covenants tied to each title. This project was possible because the land was leased to developers at 30 percent below-market and, in turn, the developer opted for value-oriented interior finishes and a reduced marketing program.

Community Amenities
At the centre of the UniverCity community lies the mixed-used University High Street area which offers a number of shops and services to meet the daily needs of residents. These include coffee shops, restaurants, and a full-service grocery store and pharmacy. As the community continues to grow, new space for additional retailers and service providers will be provided allowing for many of the daily needs of residents to be provided in close proximity to where they live. For more information on available shops and services, please click here.

In addition to providing a variety of local shops and services, UniverCity residents are eligible for a free Community Card allowing discounted access to nearby SFU facilities and events such as the library, gym, theater and sporting events.

Families with children are also able to attend childcare programs developed in partnership with the SFU Childcare Society, and by September 2010, will be able to take advantage of a new elementary school at UniverCity. Soon to begin construction, the school is being developed through a partnership between the Trust, SFU, the Burnaby Board of Education, the City of Burnaby, and the BC Ministry of Education.

Gondola Transit
While currently well-served by transit, strong demand and UniverCity’s location atop Burnaby Mountain mean that long lineups, waiting periods and overcrowding are the norm for most of the four bus routes currently serving the community. In addition to the day to day issues of overcrowding and long waiting periods, bus services are affected by winter driving conditions for 10 or more days a year, and can often be cancelled.

To address this, the Trust is currently examining options for the development of a Burnaby Mountain Urban Transit Gondola that would connect the community and the SFU campus to the existing regional rapid transit network.

The first of its kind in Canada, the high-speed urban transit gondola would not only improve service by decreasing travel times by almost half, it would also save taxpayer dollars due to reductions in bus operations and maintenance costs. It is estimated that a gondola system would eliminate more than 50,000 hours of diesel bus operations, reducing green house gas emissions by 1,870 tones annually.

While still in the conceptual stage, the Trust is working with regional, provincial and federal stakeholders to examine the proposed gondola project in more detail. It appears to have significant potential to provide long-term benefits to UniverCity as well as the broader Vancouver region through reduced operation costs, enhanced reliability, and green house gas reductions.