Zero Energy & Emissions Buildings Learning Centre

A circular future starts with education. Without the right knowledge, skills, and training, the transition remains halted at the idea stage. This is particularly true when it comes to construction, an industry that only recently began taking its first steps into zero emissions and circular practices.

Recognizing this need, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) launched a program focused on a circular economy for buildings, providing training in net-zero design, energy management, building retrofits, and more.

We spoke with Melissa Hamer, Project Leader at the Zero Energy & Emissions Buildings (ZEB) Learning Centre in BCIT’s School of Construction and the Environment, about how the centre is helping British Columbia’s construction sector adopt high-performance building practices through applied training, industry collaboration, and workforce development.

What inspired you to start ZEB Learning Centre and engage in circularity?

When we started the ZEB Learning Centre nine years ago, our focus was really on helping BC’s construction sector build better and meet the Energy Step Code. But as we worked more closely with builders, designers, and tradespeople, it became clear that sustainability is about more than energy efficiency alone. It’s also about the full life of a building—where materials come from, how they’re used, and what happens to them afterward. That’s what led us to engage more deeply in circularity.

How do you feel that implementing circular solutions will benefit the built environment, communities, and Canada?

We see circular solutions as a key part of creating a more resilient and sustainable built environment. When buildings are designed for disassembly, and retrofit is prioritized over demolition, we can conserve resources, reduce waste, lower emissions, and improve long-term building performance.

For communities, circularity can also create opportunities for local workforce development, job creation, and innovation.

Across Canada, applying cradle-to-cradle principles in building design can help advance climate goals while making the construction sector more efficient, competitive, and resilient. Because buildings have such a significant impact on emissions, the environment, and community wellbeing, these ideas need to be central to the way we design and build.

What do you consider to be your biggest success in advancing the circular economy in the built environment? Can you share any stories of impact your work has had that have surprised you?

One of our biggest achievements has been bringing together visionary faculty and industry partners to create Canada’s first microcredential program focused on disassembly, construction material flow analysis, adaptive reuse, procurement, and embodied carbon for buildings. That work has created meaningful momentum. Our Applied Circular Economy: Zero Waste Buildings microcredential, developed by faculty Brenda Martens, explores construction material flows, deconstruction management, and design for disassembly, and has engaged more than 77 learners from across Canada. Another 164 learners have taken our Introduction to Circular Economy course.

It has been especially rewarding to see graduates carry this work forward in real ways. For example, participants in the program went on to found VEMA Deconstruction, which has become one of the region’s leading deconstruction firms, and later returned to co-facilitate future course offerings.

It has also been encouraging to see this work expand through the relationships we’ve built across British Columbia and throughout Canada. In collaboration with more than 60 industry and government partners, we’ve delivered training to over 10,000 learners through in-person and online offerings in circular economy, regenerative building, and high-performance building design and construction. That reach is supported by a teaching network of industry-active part-time instructors and BCIT faculty in trades, design, and construction management, which helps keep the training practical, industry-responsive, and relevant to today’s workforce.

At the same time, uptake of these skills still depends on market demand. Practitioners are unlikely to prioritize circular approaches without clear signals from clients and building owners. Advancing circularity will require organizations to embed these principles into procurement across all project types, from single-family homes to large institutional developments.

Indigenous communities, governments, universities, and schools—as long-term stewards of built assets—can benefit significantly from circularity and are especially well-positioned to lead by prioritizing embodied carbon reduction, adaptability, and material recovery in their projects.

What are some of the challenges you typically face working to advance the circular economy, especially within the built environment?

A major challenge in advancing circularity in the built environment is the lack of a mature market for reused and salvaged building components. Builders and specifiers need a reliable supply of materials before they can confidently incorporate them into projects, while suppliers need clear, consistent demand before investing in the infrastructure to support that supply. Few building owners are actively asking for circular strategies, and most remain focused primarily on waste reduction. While that is a useful starting point, it does not yet reflect the broader shift needed to fully support circularity.

There are also practical and regulatory barriers. In high-cost regions such as Metro Vancouver, collecting, storing, and redistributing salvaged materials with the high price of land makes warehousing expensive. Regulations, particularly for structural elements, often need to be regraded or recertified before they can be reused in new construction.

These challenges are not insurmountable. Other jurisdictions have made meaningful progress, demonstrating that with the right combination of policy support, market development, and industry collaboration, circular approaches can become both more practical and more widely adopted.

Are there any upcoming initiatives, projects, trends, or advancements related to your work you'd like to share?

There are several initiatives we’re excited about because they reflect where the industry is heading and where training can have the greatest impact. We’re continuing to build on programs such as Applied Circular Economy: Zero Waste Buildings and Whole-Building Life Cycle Assessment Professional, which help learners and industry professionals reduce waste, extend material life, and better understand embodied carbon in building design.

We want to help embed circular thinking across the sector and build the skills needed to put it into practice.

We also continue to offer core training through Essentials of Net Zero and Passive House Construction and Supervising Net Zero Passive House Construction, alongside heat pump upskilling for trades as building electrification gains momentum.

We’re looking forward to emerging work in modern methods of construction, including a microfactory that gives students and faculty hands-on experience with panel prefabrication for residential buildings. We also see strong potential to share this approach with rural or remote communities to support local housing solutions.

Off-site design and construction for gentle densification is another promising area, offering a path to scalable, low-impact housing while advancing low-carbon construction, material reuse, and circular building practices.

Together, these initiatives point to a broader shift toward circularity, decarbonization, and more workforce-ready training. Our goal is to help ensure learners, practitioners, and organizations are equipped with the practical knowledge and skills needed to lead that transition.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the circular economy over the next decade, and how do you envision contributing to this vision? How can other individuals and organizations help support your mission and/or advance circularity in the built environment?

Over the next decade, we hope circularity becomes standard practice in Canada’s built environment, with net-zero buildings designed for disassembly and built with reclaimed materials. We also hope British Columbia can help lead that shift, much as it did in the early days of LEED, and demonstrate approaches that can scale across Canada and North America.

Education and capacity-building will be essential. Through applied training and partnerships with industry, communities, and future tradespeople and designers, we want to help embed circular thinking across the sector and build the skills needed to put it into practice.

Realizing this vision will require collaboration. Individuals can support it by championing sustainable building practices, while organizations can help by investing in innovation, applying circular principles, and sharing what they learn. If we move forward together, we can help create a built environment that is more resilient, low-carbon, and resource-efficient for generations to come.