Who is Gord Lovegrove?
Welcome to my site!
I'm a happily married father of four, long-time Kelowna resident, professional engineer for over 25 years; founding professor of UBC School of Engineering, and have advised various governments worldwide on electrification of transport - cars, trucks, buses, trains, planes & marine - as well as on housing, homelessness & climate action. My SMARTer Growth (sustainable community) system planning and design experience includes research and development of:
- walkable, transit-oriented, inclusive, greener neighborhoods that meet UN development standards & sustain a high quality of life
- affordable housing, Net Zero homes, and CoHousing communities
- transportation infrastructure for pedestrians, buses, bicycling, & regional zero-emission (ZE) tram-trains
- safety of transport, persons with disabilities, and built environments
- food security of the ALR and vertical farming
- technology to help people experiencing homelessness
My Vision - Re-Connecting Our Community
Check out my 4 minute YouTube video on "The Future of Sustainable Transportation"
Why do I want your vote for Kelowna City Council?
My areas of expertise exactly match emerging Kelowna issues. Engineers are strategic-thinkers and problem solvers who get the job down efficiently and effectively. I offer sustainable development engineering experience to Council. I’ve been trusted to teach Kelowna’s future leaders, will you trust me with your vote?
It's your city, our future, and my experience.
Love Kelowna? Vote LOVEGROVE!
Gord Lovegrove
Short Biography
Dr. Lovegrove is passionate about sustainable communities, and is one of the School of Engineering’s experts in applied sustainable civil engineering, striving for positive change locally and globally – he serves on several Boards, including: Kelowna's Gospel Mission, and national/international youth service organizations.
In 2020, he built the Okanagan Valley's first NRCan certified 'Net Zero' (EnerGuide Zero) carriage house. After serving as Vice President of Technical Programs for the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), and co-authoring "Engineering for Sustainable Communities" with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Dr Lovegrove was asked to become part-time Science Advisor to federal government on Transport and Infrastructure, and federal climate action plans. His sustainability expertise stems from over 30 years of hands-on professional engineering experience and innovative, rigorous science-based research (Dr Lovegrove led the team that got UBC students their U-Pass!).
In addition to his valuable contributions to the School’s teaching and research programs at UBCO, Dr Lovegrove works hard off campus as a volunteer to promote sustainable lifestyles, government, and built form in Kelowna and globally. He has served as a Director of Kelowna’s Fresh Outlook Foundation (freshoutlookfoundation.org), co-founder of Kelowna’s Okanagan Car Share Co-Op (now modo.ca), co-founder of Kelowna’s Christian Service Brigade boys club (ccsbcan.ca), and member of TRB Bicycle Committee (ANF20), among others. Dr Lovegrove’s contributions, expertise, and reputation have been recognized by his peers as worthy of several distinguished grants, including: Natural Science & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grants to support his students, Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Grant to equip his research lab, and others to develop Canada's 1st zero emission rail vehicle, Hydrail 1. Dr Lovegrove’s research team efforts on Hydrail (Hydrogen fuel-cell / battery hybrid rail power), a gateway technology to convert all North American regional passenger and freight rail from polluting diesel to zero-emission electric rail systems, at a fraction of the cost of conventional electric rail, thus helping to address our climate challenges.
Dr Lovegrove’s sustainability expertise is regularly sought after for conference plenary sessions, expert legal opinions, co-authoring sustainability texts, and governments panels and initiatives across the globe.