10:40 am - 12:00 pm | Room: Sinatra | Session Chair: Helen Stopps

MURBs

Analysis Of Summertime Overheating In Multi-Unit Residential Buildings

Overheating in buildings arising from extreme heat events (EHEs) has been identified as a health concern to vulnerable occupants.  Epidemiological studies found the mortality data during EHEs are higher than any other natural hazard.  However, most mortality data are not associated with the indoor conditions under which people spend most of their time. This paper analyses the results of field monitoring in apartment buildings retrofitted to reduce energy use and overheating risk during summertime heat waves.  The outdoor and indoor conditions were collected over three years: prior, during and after retrofit. The results showed the indoor temperatures increased with the outdoor conditions in unconditioned suites not facing north.  In those suites, the indoor temperatures ranged from 27 to 34°C, and were higher than the adaptive thermal comfort and outdoor temperatures during the heat wave periods.  The occupants were exposed to medium to high levels of heat stress, particularly during nighttime.

Alexander Hayes, National Research Council Canada

M.A.Sc, Research Officer NRC (2020-Present)

Alex’s work has been focused on identifying and quantifying the cooling capacity of possible mitigation strategies to combat the effects of Urban Heat Island in Canada, with a recent publication in MDPI Buildings Journal. His day to day work includes investigating the steady state effects of thermal bridges, identifying potential risks associated with simplifications made in thermal performance simulations as well as running simulations to determine the thermal transmittance of unique wall assemblies. Alex has a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Carleton University where he conducted an investigation into the service life for vacuum insulation panels using accelerated ageing as well as designing, building and calibrating a guarded hot plate apparatus for analysing the thermal conductance of building materials. 

Expertise – Urban heat island, nature based solutions, heat transfer, linear thermal transmittance, vacuum insulation glazing, vacuum insulated panels, Mechanical engineering