Forensics Crime Scene Facility

Trent University’s new Forensics Crime Facility sets new academic and environmental standards all at once, as a first-of-its-kind professional forensics training building constructed on a Canadian university campus—and with a goal to be Canada’s first zero-carbon building certified by the International Living Future Institute.

With the new building, the University combines its renowned forensics leadership with its reputation as one of Canada’s top environmental teaching and research universities.

The new 4,100 square-foot building is a forward-thinking facility that pioneers approaches to training students, and current practitioners, in forensic science methodology. Building upon the learnings from Trent’s 10-year-old Crime Scene House, the new facility unites spaces for staging crime scenes, facilities for analyzing evidence and exhibits, as well as a classroom for reviewing and evaluating student performance.

Sector-Leading Academic Highlights:

• Large modular space: controlled-environment and moveable walls to stage up to eight crime scenes
• Cameras: installed in crime scene spaces to record students’ analysis and allow instructor feedback on strengths and areas for improvement
• An adjacent, on-site lab space: modern equipment to process and analyze evidence and minimize cross-contamination in transport
• Garage lab: for vehicle analysis as the majority of crimes have a vehicle component
• Outdoor staging space: to train in evidence collection from different substrates (e.g. mud, gravel, sand)
• Mentorship: Opportunities for students to interact with professional practitioners

In addition to the educational benefits this building brings to Trent students, the Forensics Crime Scene Facility aims to be the first Zero-Carbon certification in Canada, certified by the International Living Future Institute. It is constructed of materials with carbon-storing properties and powered primarily by renewable energy. The new building is located on the core campus beside Otonabee College just down the hill from East Bank Drive.

Leading Environmental and Sustainability Features:

• Aiming to be First Zero-Carbon certification in Canada by the International Living Future Institute
• Solar-powered roof panels to heat, cool and power the facility to achieve Net Zero energy
• Canadian carbon-storing materials:
  
  • Hemp blocks from Albertan company Just Biofibre used to make the exterior structure
  • Hemp batt insulation made in Quebec by Nature Fibers to be used for internal structure of the building
  • Cellulose roof insulation made here in Ontario
  • Charred wood siding from locally harvested wood
  • Glavel under-floor insulation

Trent worked with a handful of partners on the project who pioneer sustainable building practices in Canada. Trent worked with:

• Endeavour Centre: Chris Magwood ’85 is a director at the Endeavour Centre, and a two-time Trent alumnus who recently completed his Master of Sustainability Studies at Trent where his research revealed the carbon footprint of common construction practices and materials and identified sustainable alternatives.
• Christopher Z. Tworkowski, Architect
• Zon Engineering Inc., Mechanical, Solar, Net Zero
• Building Alternatives Inc., Structural
• Berthelot Engineering Ltd., Electrical

The project was made possible by the legacy gift from former Board of Governors chair, the late Jalynn Bennett. In 2018, the Jalynn H. Bennett Foundation donated $1.13 million to Trent, one of the largest legacy gifts in the University’s history. The new Forensics Crime Scene Facility is part of the Jalynn H. Bennett Trent Lands Enhancement Project, which funds projects that will enhance Trent’s natural setting, advance academic excellence, increase engagement with the local and First Nations communities, and enrich the student experience.