Grant: Advancing Climate Change Science in Canada

Overheating of building interior spaces as may arise from climate change and extreme heat events has been*identified as a major concern to the comfort and health of building occupants particularly of the vulnerable*people such as the elderly, children, the physically challenged or the sick. To ensure the resiliency of Canadian*buildings against overheating, and protect Canadians' health from a changing climate, the proposed research*focuses on assessing summertime overheating risks during heat waves in buildings housing vulnerable*populations through field measurements under the current climate, and providing mitigation solutions using*validated computer models under predicted future climates. The research activities are organized as follows: 1).*Field monitoring: Indoor thermal conditions of 11 selected buildings and exterior climatic conditions will be*monitored to assess risks of summertime overheating. 2). Simulations: Development of urban-scale*microclimate model and building-scale overheating model. The urban-scale model will be to simulate the*surrounding microclimate effects on specific buildings to be applied to detailed whole building simulations to*predict indoor thermal conditions under extreme heat events. 3). Mitigations: Development of mitigation*strategies by considering urban-scale microclimate and climate change for different Canadian climatic zones.*4). Guidelines: Development of design guidelines to support the ongoing NRC projects under the ""Climate*Resilience Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure"" program to develop guidelines and changes to building*codes for climate resilience design of commercial and residential buildings. In close collaborations with NRC,*ECCC and HC, the project will produce significant outcomes including 1). Forecasting computer models and*design guidelines for assessing and mitigating summertime overheating; 2). Support for the development of*climate adaptive building codes and standards; 3). Information necessary to municipal and provincial heath*authorities to help mitigate the effects of overheating in buildings, and 4). Training the next generation HQPs*ready for solving climate change related building design issues.