Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Our Approach to Community Sustainability

Community

We have lived and worked in Mill Bay for over sixty-five years. We strive to create positive and relevant change through community service, partnerships, and bursaries. Our B-Well and BEAT (Brentwood Environmental Action Team) volunteer programs allow us to project our values within the greater community. A longstanding example of this is the annual Brentwood Service Day event, where all 500+ of us volunteer to help local families with their spring cleaning in exchange for donations to non-profit organizations in the Cowichan Valley. We also fundraise every single year to support Student Financial Aid, increasing access to a Brentwood education for a wider diversity of students and families.

Brentwood’s B-Well group currently supports the Canadian Cancer Society, C.M.S. Food Bank, Warmland House, Cowichan Valley Hospice Society, Hiiye’yu Lelum Society, South Cowichan Rotary Club, Nourish Cowichan, and Birdsong Nature School.

All Non-profit organizations that we have supported as a school >

Education

As a place of learning, we ensure that our students and staff are continually educated on sustainable living and environmental stewardship. Brentwood offers courses on Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Science, and Sustainable Engineering, hosts a thriving student-led BEAT (Brentwood Environmental Action Team) group that educates new students and staff on everything from upcycling—garbage art contests!, clothing and book exchanges, eco-friendly holiday gift-wrapping—to tips for reducing energy use. They regularly lead volunteer groups into the wider community to collect garbage from beaches, restore local wetlands, assist established non-profits with their programming, and participate in important dialogue and collaboration towards a better future. While on campus, they monitor food waste and help us to celebrate low-carbon foods. BEAT also demonstrates educational leadership at Brentwood’s International Regatta event by championing waste-streaming across the campus and they perform environmental audits of the Entrepreneurship 12 food booth businesses.

Diversity

Our school is a tremendous example of intellectual and demographic diversity. With students from over fifty countries, we embrace our diversity as part of our principles of community and work to create learning opportunities for both students and staff because we know we are stronger with multiple points of view at the table and in the room.

Environmental Sustainability

We are committed to environmental stewardship by minimizing our footprint and inspiring our students and staff to do the same.

Brentwood has been an energy-sensitive school since the 1980s when we began using innovative heating and building control systems. Our green campus is proactive in its numerous sustainability initiatives including our waste management system, conservation efforts, and our facility design and management.

Green initiatives have included campus-wide recycling centres, composting programs throughout all campus buildings and pathways, the use of Green Seal cleaning products, energy-efficient lighting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures. Brentwood is also a registered ecoActive school through PITCH-IN Canada, the country’s largest non-profit organization working to preserve the environment by reducing waste.

An energy-efficient building program was initiated during the planning for the T. Gil Bunch Centre for the Performing Arts. This included an ocean-source geo-exchange heating and cooling system. Using the ocean as a heat source for commercial buildings was in its infancy and Brentwood’s decision to design and build such a system was the first of its kind in Canada. The geo-exchange system proved to be environmentally friendly, extremely efficient, and reliable and this technology continues to be incorporated into many campus buildings—including our newest addition, the Centre for Innovation and Learning.

Our geo-exchange system is 150 feet from shore and about 30 feet deep, now comprising three loops that support four major campus buildings. In addition, the newest building on campus has the most sophisticated environmental controls, such that room temperature and air exchange are auto-calibrated to the exact number of people occupying that room at a given time. This means that as campus activity fluctuates from full-occupancy morning classes to quieter evening study sessions to school holidays—where only a few administrative staff may be present, the amount of energy used to support that learning space will adjust to meet the needs of the moment.