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The proposed research focus has three overlapping themes:
- Climate Change: The built environment and the construction industry are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and use 30-40% of Canada's total energy consumption. Canada is responding to the Kyoto target with incremental improvements in emissions and efficiencies, but new technologies and strategies will soon be required to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions (post-Kyoto). Research and technology transfer activities will address mitigation of climate change (through energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation to impacts of climate change on the built environment. NRC-IRC will continue to collaborate with other government departments and other parts of NRC on projects addressing national priorities, and will facilitate any revisions needed in the national model codes to accommodate climate change. (more... )
- "Green" Buildings: Rating schemes for design and labeling of "green" buildings are coming into increasingly widespread use in Canada, with support from non-governmental organizations such as the Canadian Green Building Council, and Green Globes. The federal government and most provinces have announced their intent to seek such certification for new government buildings. The proponents are steadily refining their methods and are seeking technical collaborators. Research on "green buildings" will address technologies to support multi-discipline design, and evaluation of performance, in support of industry initiatives for more sustainable buildings. (more... )
- Life Cycle Performance: It is widely recognized that comprehensive treatment of sustainability must be based on consideration of costs, performance, and environmental impact over the life cycle. It is equally acknowledged that current knowledge and tools are insufficient to achieve that objective. Research in life cycle performance will integrate issues pertinent to managing the life cycle of the built environment, such as condition assessment and service life prediction, environmental impact, and costs at each stage of the life cycle. (more... )
