Area of Inquiry II: Enhancing Building Performance in Community Housing

Community housing has high levels of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, due to aging buildings and widespread deferred maintenance.

The National Housing Strategy seeks to address these issues by “improv[ing] asset management ... and address[ing] ongoing operations, maintenance and repair issues.”By improving building performance and location efficiency, it seeks to “mitigate the causes of climate change, and build climate resilience.”

Building construction and operations account for 17% of total GHG emissions in Canada.Inefficient energy and heating systems contribute significantly to emissions, especially in older buildings,which describes most community housing in Canada (75% built prior to 1990). Temperature regulation is often difficult in community housing due to poor ventilation and insulation,driving up operating costs.A focus on energy efficiency is needed to lower operating costs, protect resident wellbeing and increase climate-related resilience.

We ask: What approaches to the renewal, design and operation of community housing will address environmental and tenant needs?

Area of Inquiry II has four objectives: 1. To inform investment and program decisions through improved and expanded data on the performance of community housing buildings 2. To develop holistic approaches for assessing the costs and benefits of adopting sustainable technologies and designs in community housing 3. To identify if and how concerns for environmental performance are linked to other building issues in community housing (e.g. unit size, accessibility and common space) 4. To assess partnerships and strategies that support sustainability and resilience in community housing through innovative approaches to repair, renewal, design and construction.

Area Lead

Runa Das, PhD

Royal Roads University

An interdisciplinary sustainability scholar, Dr. Das’ work centres on energy use, energy justice and environmental behaviour. Her work is motivated by real world issues such as climate change and sustainability. In particular, her interdisciplinary research explores the assessment and practice of environmental and social sustainability with a specific focus on energy-related issues.

Co-Investigators

Marianne Touchie, PhD

University of Toronto

Dr. Touchie’s research focuses on improving the energy performance and indoor environmental quality of existing buildings to make them more comfortable, healthy and sustainable through comprehensive retrofits.

Russell Richman, PhD

Ryerson University

Dr. Richman is a civil engineer and building scientist with a private consulting practice. His building science research focuses on improving energy efficiency.

Partner

Graduate Student Opportunities

Interested in joining our partnership as a graduate student? We are now recruiting! Contact Us.

Graduate students for Area of Inquiry II will be supported by funding from Royal Roads University and SSHRC, and will be supervised by Runa Das, who leads Area of Inquiry II.

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