UBC is going keyless!  Using chip-embedded technology, all secured buildings will use the new iClass UBCcard for access.  To the naked eye, the UBCcard looks the same; however, since fall 2010, all first year students have been issued UBCcards embedded with this technology in preparation for this change.  UBC Okanagan has already completed a similar program and is currently the first campus in Canada to become 100 percent keyless. 

How will a keyless campus impact the community?  Security and convenience will be the main differences.   Over the last 15 years, UBC Vancouver has distributed approximately 345,000 keys and has over 154,000 keys in circulation.  About 10,000 keys have been reported as lost. In a keyless campus, your UBCcard will be the primary access to buildings after hours. The cost of replacing lost keys will significantly reduce as UBCcards can easily be tracked and replaced and access to a building can be modified dynamically.

Newly constructed buildings have already installed the technology in preparation for a keyless campus. Each year, approximately 20 buildings will be selected to receive the updated feature. To prioritize which buildings will be retrofitted, the following criteria are used:

• Number of entrance keys issued annually
• Number of students in the building after hours
• Buildings used as swing spaces where occupants change regularly
• Lab spaces
• Security issues in the building

By March 31, 2012, the first 20 buildings that are expected to use the keyless feature are:

Buildings that are expected to be the keyless by March 31, 2012:

Anthropology and Sociology Building

Biological Sciences Building

Brimacombe Building

Chemistry D Block, Centre Wing

Chemistry EBlock, North Wing

Civil and Mechanical Engineering

D.H. Copp Building

Earth and Ocean Sciences Centre

Forest Sciences Centre

Geography Building

Jack Bell Building for The School of Social Work

Walter C. Koerner Library

Frederic Lasserre Building

H.R. Macmillan   Building

Mathematics Building

Music Building

Neville Scarfe Building

University Services Building

Wesbrook Building

P.A. Woodward Instructional Resources Centre

 "The idea of a Keyless campus isn't necessarily a new one at UBC but it is rewarding to see how far we've come in a short time since the launch of the Keyless Project. With representation from Building Operations, Infrastructure Development, Campus Security and Parking & Access Control, we've developed a strategy to retrofit existing buildings with electronic perimeter door access and have this work funded centrally. This support from UBC's Executive has been critical in ensuring we have the resources required to see the first phase of the project through to completion. The expanded use of electronic access across campus not only affords us increased flexibility in how we provide building access to Faculty, Staff and Students but will, in time, allow us to retire some of the legacy access systems still in use at UBC," says Kevin Labadie, Manager, Business Information Systems. For inquiries about the Keyless Project, please contact Managing Director of University Community Services, Debbie Harvie at Debbie.harvie@ubc.ca.