Each year, owners of Canada’s institutional and commercial buildings invest billions of dollars in technologies which aim to reduce their annual energy bills. With the cost of energy expected to double in the next decade, the need for validated and cost-effective energy-saving technologies will continue to increase.
HRV/ERV installation scheme – text description of image 1 The National Building Code of Canada requires Canadian homes to be ventilated mechanically. Heat Recovery Ventilator/Energy Recovery Ventilator (HRV/ERV) technology provides a mechanism to meet these ventilation requirements in an energy-efficient … Full story
Indoor Environment Research Facility with experimental set-up. Research by NRC Construction has shown that displacement ventilation systems can potentially work well in the heating season when the supply air temperature is lower than room temperature (set point) coupled with controlled … Full story
Figure 1: Testing of an HRV/ERV system in a specially designed test rig Figure 2: Air sampling for determining supply (blue) and return (red) air quality Figure 3: Evaluating the removal efficiency of an HRV/ERV system with a particulate injection … Full story
Figure 1. Active sub-slab depressurization ductwork and radon monitor Recent scientific research performed by Health Canada’s Radiation Protection Bureau estimates that approximately 3000 lung cancer deaths annually in Canada could be linked to indoor radon exposure. Approximately 7% of Canadian … Full story
The attached garage has become a common part of modern single-family homes and row houses. Garages are used not only for housing vehicles but for storing all kinds of tools, equipment, materials and products used in and around the home. … Full story
Figure 1. A view of nature can help ease the stress of everyday life. (Architect: John Donkin. Photo used with permission: Peter Fritz). Interest in daylighting and lighting design has never been higher since physiologists discovered a new type of … Full story
Lower energy consumption, longer life, and the possibility of exciting new ways to use light are some of the advantages of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) over other light sources. Although the initial cost of LEDs remains higher than that of their … Full story
An air duct after cleaning Bringing fresh air into offices is important to providing healthy and productive indoor conditions. As most office buildings rely on mechanical ventilation, fresh outdoor supply air must not be allowed to deteriorate in air handling … Full story
Project partners This research activity was a three-year, multi-partner project between the NRC-IRC, INSPQ, the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire du Québec (CHUQ) and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec and … Full story
