On April 24-25, members of the RISE project team were in Nepean, Ontario tovisit project partner Caivan at their headquarters. Team members included Project Director and Lead Principal Investigator Michael Drescher, Co-Principal Investigators Derek Robinson and Bruce MacVicar, Project Manager Harriet Bigas, and HQP team members Hazem Ahmed, Brandon Giura, Thiruni Thirimanne and Rayden Laliberte.
The visit began with a meet and greet with Caivan’s Co-CEO Frank Cairo and President of Land Development Susan Murphy. Frank provided an overview of Caivan’s history and approach to sustainability and the company’s vision and goals for the future. The project team engaged in an interactive discussion with Frank and Susan on overall sustainability goals in the residential development sector, and how the RISE Scorecard can be used to help support sustainability efforts. The group discussed the different metrics of the Scorecard, such as stormwater hydrology and terrestrial greenhouse gas emissions, and how neighbourhood designs can be enhanced to meet sustainability and emission reduction goals. The group also discussed the challenges that need to be overcome in the residential sector and planning process in moving towards sustainability, including working with different actors each with their own set of unique challenges, and Canada’s housing crisis.
The morning discussion was followed by a tour of Caivan’s on-site advanced manufacturing facility to learn about Caivan’s unique approach to homebuilding. The RISE project team learned and saw first-hand about Caivan’s sustainability approach to building homes more efficiently and with a reduced environmental impact. Team members were impressed to learn of Caivan’s net-zero waste facility and ways in which Caivan optimizes the manufacturing process to increase efficiencies, thereby reducing costs while still ensuring sustainability is top of mind.
Frank Cairo (left), Co-CEO of Caivan, talks to RISE team members on their morning tour of Caivan's manufacturing facility.
Frank Cairo (left), Caivan Co-CEO, speaks to Co-Principal Investigator Derek Robinson (centre) and Project Director and Lead Principal Investigator Michael Drescher (right) about the wood and materials used in Caivan's home building during their tour of the manufacturing facility.
Following lunch, the project team met with additional industry experts to further discuss the RISE approach to the Scorecard. The project team was then taken on a perimeter tour of an up-and-coming Caivan residential development site on the horizon.
On the second day of their visit, Susan Murphy took the RISE project team to a second site visit of another Caivan residential development site in the pipeline. Despite the chilly morning, RISE members had a fun time driving golf carts as they explored the future site. While the rest of the team headed out for the drive back to Waterloo, co-Principal Investigator Derek Robinson and team member Brandon Giura took the opportunity to spend the rest of the day using their remotely piloted aircraft to fly the site for data collection for terrestrial carbon estimates.
The RISE team wishes to thank Caivan for hosting them, and for the opportunity to learn more about Caivan’s approach to homebuilding and have deeper discussions about the RISE Scorecard.
Dr. Michael Drescher (second from left) speaking with Caivan's Susan Murphy (centre) and other RISE team members about the future residential development site.
Dr. Derek Robinson (left) going through the different components of the remotely piloted aircraft to Dr. Michael Drescher (right) and RISE team members.
