Following the record-breaking summer 2021 heat wave, UBC is gearing up for potential high temperatures in July and August. As many dorms lack air conditioning, UBC is recommending students purchase fans and remain aware of the signs of heat stroke. UBC has plans to open cooling centres on campus if necessary.
Although June has been unseasonably cold, predictions forecast hot temperatures for July and August. As the climate crisis accelerates, research shows extreme heat events will become more common and more intense. An international research team found that climate change made BC’s 2021 heat wave — the most deadly weather event in recorded Canadian history — 150 times more likely.
In May, UBC sent out an email to warn students about potential coming heat waves, encouraging them to “consider purchasing a fan today.”
Third-year science student Nirvaan Rohira lives in Spruce House, which is not air conditioned. He bought a fan in preparation.
“I would be concerned, but I’m quite used to it,” said Rohira, who said his home in India accustomed him to hot temperatures. “Keeping the windows open and the fan on should be fine, but sometimes it can get really hot. With the fan, it’s bearable.”
In 2021, UBC opened Mercante, Open Kitchen, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, and the Nest as temporary air conditioned cooling centres.
In a written statement to The Ubyssey, UBC Media Relations Director Kurt Heinrich said that UBC would provide access to cooling stations again in the event of a heat wave this year.
However, some students complained that in 2021, UBC only opened and publicized the cooling centres once the heat wave was already three days in.
“I only remember finding out about the cooling centres within the last day of it,” said fifth-year history student Griffin Botsford, who lived in Exchange last summer.
Rohira emphasized that for students, clear and prompt communication about public safety in heat waves is the most important thing that UBC administration can do. According to Heinrich, UBC plans to make information about cooling centres available via UBC Broadcast email and social media channels.
According to Heinrich, “future buildings are being designed and built for greater climate resiliency including mechanical cooling.” The 600 bed residence currently under construction in Brock Commons will have air conditioning.
This follows the Climate Ready Requirements for UBC Buildings, which was updated in 2020 to mandate liveable temperatures (which UBC calls “thermal comfort”) in UBC residences in preparation for extreme warming scenarios.
Exchange, opened in 2019, was built before the new climate-readiness building policies: the residence lacks air conditioning for the sake of energy efficiency, which is part of its LEED-Gold certification.
Last year, heat-related deaths and hospitalizations disproportionately impacted the elderly, the unhoused, people who live along, and those with underlying medical conditions. Most deaths also occurred in homes without mechanical cooling.
Although UBC’s younger population and shaded tree cover reduces campus risk relative to the rest of the city, dorms without cooling methods — whether that be air conditioning or alternative energy-efficient cooling systems such as heat pumps — remain a risk for some.
“It was pretty excruciating honestly,” said Botsford. “With it being a brand new dorm, I was expecting climate control of some kind, but there was no air conditioning or anything, just a fan and an open window.”
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