Marianne F. Touchie

University of Toronto | U of T · Department of Civil Engineering

Given the emerging concern for student wellbeing in public health discourse, a question arises: What role do campus buildings play in shaping the overall wellbeing of students? Following the PRISMA guideline, this study reviews the current building science literature that explores the relationship between higher education learning environments, spe...

Outdoor environmental noise is a major source of annoyance in urban areas and exposure to it can increase the risk of severe health issues. Consequently, it has been the focus of research for decades. Even though people spend the majority of their time indoors, most studies use outdoor noise levels and do not include indoor noise measurements to es...

Ventilation system performance in high‐rise multi‐unit residential buildings (MURBs) has a significant impact on resident wellbeing. While the importance of ventilation is well established, it is commonly overlooked since underperformance often goes undetected. This article presents a review and synthesis of ventilation system performance in high‐r...

Community Wellbeing (CW) in the built environment is acknowledged as being ‘greater than the sum of its parts’, a process that emerges when residents negotiate understandings of community within shared spaces. However, methods of evaluation have not caught up. In practice, evaluation methods and frameworks measure CW as an aggregate of individual w...

This paper introduces a database of 34 field-measured building occupant behavior datasets collected from 15 countries and 39 institutions across 10 climatic zones covering various building types in both commercial and residential sectors. This is a comprehensive global database about building occupant behavior. The database includes occupancy patte...

Solar chimneys are passive ventilation systems that leverage solar energy to supplement or replace mechanical ventilation. Here we present a novel flow network analysis method for solar chimneys in high-rise buildings and use this method to develop insights into the design of these systems in high-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). The...

As the proportion of the population who resides in urban centers grows, the number of dwellings in high-rise residential buildings is also increasing. In Canada, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) typically accounts for over half of all energy use in this building type and, as such, consideration of these loads is key to effective en...

Occupants’ comfort perception affects building energy consumptions. To improve the understanding of human comfort, which is crucial to reduce energy demand, laboratory experiments with humans in controlled environments (test rooms) are fundamental, but their potential also depends on the characteristic of each research facility. Nowadays, there is...

Although building energy simulation is an essential tool for designers, numerous studies have proven the existence of a performance gap between the estimated and measured energy use. In response, researchers are exploring ways to collect authentic behavioural data to improve existing inaccurate data-driven occupancy behaviour models. An important o...

In Canada and the United States, pressurized corridor ventilation systems are common in older high-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). There is growing evidence that these systems exhibit poor performance, necessitating the evaluation of alternatives. This study used a CONTAM air flow model to compare six ventilation systems to the press...

Multi-unit residential building (MURB) occupants often express dissatisfaction with their suites' acoustic conditions despite existing building acoustic standards and regulations as well as growing research on noise control and building acoustics. Reasons for this include the lack of proper characterization of acoustic comfort in MURBs and lack of...

The need to renovate high-rise residential buildings to maintain or improve indoor environmental conditions and reduce energy use is becoming prevalent worldwide. Climate change concerns have driven the development of policies, regulations, and standards for building renovation; however, these standards are often narrowly focussed on energy use and...

Connected thermostat data provide new opportunities to access heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) operation and indoor condition data in high-rise residential buildings. However, how well these thermostat data reflect actual conditions and operation is unclear and best-practices to leverage these data for energy use modelling are neede...

While occupancy-based control and other demand management control strategies have demonstrated potential, little is known about how these changes in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) control impacts occupants’ perception of the thermal conditions in their home. In this paper, occupants’ thermal comfort perceptions and use of thermos...

Buildings’ expected (projected, simulated) energy use frequently does not match actual observations. This is commonly referred to as the energy performance gap. As such, many factors can contribute to the disagreement between expectations and observations. These include, for instance, uncertainty about buildings’ geometry, construction, systems, an...

This paper presents a novel method for characterizing the exterior envelope air tightness of high-rise multi-unit residential building suites, the “Selective Pressure Neutralization” (Selective PN) method. Through the neutralization of air flow across the corridor-suite pressure boundary, this method can improve accuracy compared to the typically i...

Energy retrofits of existing multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) are necessary to reduce their carbon emissions. While doing so there is an opportunity to influence the indoor environment. There is a need to quantify retrofit impacts across multiple dimensions, in terms of emissions and indoor environment, but also occupant perceptions. This p...

Trends of urbanization, densification, and telework all point to increasing exposure to ambient noise for workers. With the lockdown policies implemented in response to COVID-19, a research opportunity to study perceived noise exposure for teleworking arose. This paper presents the results of a survey on noise issues in multi-unit residential build...

Smart home technologies are becoming prevalent in residential buildings. Despite interface and control improvements offered by smart thermostats, previous work has found energy savings from this technology to be variable. Further, little is known about how smart thermostat operation differs from conventional programmable thermostat operation, which...

Control of inter-zonal air flow in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) is currently regulated by ASHRAE 62.2: Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Residential Buildings, which specifies a maximum whole-suite air leakage rate, normalized by surface area. Despite the fact that the compartmentalization requirement has been in effect s...

Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, it has become increasingly important and necessary to conduct research and teaching activities online. While many universities quickly started the transition to online teaching, most in‐person research activities were typically postponed. However, in order to not significantly delay research, researchers are increasing...

Smart home technologies have long been envisioned as a mainstay in future residential buildings; however, residential smart home technologies have fallen short of expectations. Generally referred to by the literature as occupant-centric controls (OCC), a subset of these technologies focus on sensing and/or managing systems based on occupant feedbac...

There is limited research on noise exposure in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) despite the proven effects of noise on people’s physical and psychological health. This motivates the current study which aims to identify important noise sources in MURBs and investigate factors that impact acoustic comfort as well as determine the various impa...

Inter‐zonal airflows within multi‐unit residential buildings (MURBs) have profound impacts on an array of building performance metrics, including energy, indoor air quality (IAQ), fire and acoustical separations and distribution of ventilation air. Although there are wide‐ranging implications, most building codes/standards have yet to incorporate a...

Buildings with highly glazed envelopes have gained popularity in recent decades. Though it is well understood that these modern buildings can be less energy efficient, only a few attempts have been made to examine the impact of certain building design decisions, such as window characteristics, on indoor thermal sensation and thermal comfort. While...

In many existing high-rise multi-family buildings, a pressurized corridor ventilation system is used to meet outdoor air ventilation requirements. However, this system often has poor performance, leading to under- or over- ventilation in different parts of a building. This study examines three ventilation strategies including: the base case, which...

Blower door testing is commonly used to characterize exterior façade air leakage in buildings. This characterization is needed to improve the accuracy of energy models and certify building performance. Performing these tests in large buildings requires air flow rates that are sometimes impractical to achieve using available equipment, which necessi...

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) operation is the largest contributor to residential building energy use and can significantly influence occupant thermal comfort and behaviours. Despite the boom in high-rise residential building construction, little is known about the relationship between occupant comfort and behaviors and HVAC oper...

This study proposes a novel HVAC retrofit for the space heating systems of post-war multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). Typically, these buildings do not have in-suite temperature control and each suite must be retrofit with a thermostatic valve to provide this control to residents. However, given the potentially high installed cost of these...

Previous studies in single family homes have demonstrated a reduction in space conditioning energy demand through the use of occupancy-controlled smart thermostats. This technology has the potential to reduce space conditioning demand in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) as well, however no previous studies have tested the performance of sma...

Previous studies in single family homes have demonstrated a reduction in space conditioning energy demand through the use of occupancy­controlled smart thermostats. This technology has the potential to reduce space conditioning demand in multi­unit residential buildings (MURBs) as well, however no previous studies have tested the performance of sma...

Background Moisture-related microbial growth is a key factor contributing to food spoilage in developing countries. Dehydration or drying of food reduces the moisture content supporting this microbial growth, thereby addressing this problem. Hence the moisture content of food materials is a key factor influencing the quality of storage thereby redu...

The need to reduce the carbon footprint of the current stock of multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) creates an opportunity to improve the indoor environmental quality (IEQ), particularly in buildings occupied by vulnerable populations. This investigation presents IEQ findings from an occupant survey of 180 suites across seven social housing MU...

Globally, there are significant challenges to meeting built environment performance targets. The gaps found between the predicted performance of new or retrofit buildings and their actual performance impede an understanding of how to achieve these targets. This paper points to the importance of reliable and informative building performance assessme...

In North America, the majority of homes use forced‐air systems for heating and cooling. The proportion of time these systems operate, or runtime, has a significant impact on many building performance parameters. The recent adoption of smart thermostats in many North American homes presents a potential data source for runtime. Smart thermostat data...

Thermal comfort influences occupant health and perceptions of the indoor environment. It is particularly important for vulnerable populations, such as those who inhabit social housing, because they may be more sensitive and prone to illness when exposed to high or low temperatures. In this study, we evaluated hygrothermal conditions inside 70 socia...

Building infiltration rates are one of the most uncertain parameters among multi-unit residential building (MURB) energy model inputs and have the potential to greatly impact building energy consumption. Infiltration rates exhibit high spatial and temporal variability and are highly building-specific making them difficult to estimate from published...

This research proposes a rehabilitation strategy for aging high-rise residential buildings involving suite compartmentalization and a modified ventilation strategy. The impact of this retrofit strategy on energy consumption and fuel mix is investigated through computer simulation using a calibrated EnergyPlus model of a case study building. Finding...

Residential buildings contributed 14% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, making this sector pivotal to climate change mitigation. In 2016, the provincial government of Ontario, Canada mandated a net-zero carbon standard for new “small buildings” by 2030, meaning the low-rise residential sector must undergo major changes to meet this targ...

This research proposes a rehabilitation strategy for aging high-rise residential buildings involving suite compartmentalization and a modified ventilation strategy. The impact of this retrofit strategy on energy consumption and fuel mix is investigated through computer simulation using a calibrated EnergyPlus model of a case study building. Finding...

This research proposes a rehabilitation strategy for aging high-rise residential buildings involving suite compartmentalization and a modified ventilation strategy. The impact of this retrofit strategy on energy consumption and fuel mix is investigated through computer simulation using a calibrated EnergyPlus model of a case study building. Finding...

A compartmentalization and in-suite ventilation system (ISVS) retrofit strategy was investigated for an existing high-rise residential building in Vancouver. Computer simulation using EnergyPlus™ was used to examine the impact of the proposed retrofit on heating energy and GHG emissions for the building's original 1983 condition, and its current co...

There are thousands of multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) in Toronto and Southern Ontario. In the City of Toronto, these buildings provide over half of the dwelling units and are responsible for an estimated 17% of the total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with natural gas and electricity consumption. To reduce the impact of...

To improve the energy performance of Toronto's post-war multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), these buildings must be energy retrofitted. Here, a novel energy retrofit strategy employing air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) operating in enclosed balcony spaces is assessed. The enclosed balcony provides a thermal buffer zone (TBZ) which can improve the...

The Canadian building stock is largely energy inefficient. In addition to using large amounts of energy, older buildings often provide a thermal environment that is uncomfortable for occupants and hard to control. One way to improve the thermal performance of older buildings and to reduce operating costs is to use a method known as the Nested Therm...

To improve the energy performance and occupant comfort of Toronto’s post-war multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), these buildings must be energy retrofitted. This paper explores the impact of a novel energy retrofit strategy that employs air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) operating in enclosed balcony spaces to replace centralized hydronic space he...

The residential sector accounts for approximately one fifth of Canada's secondary energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, addressing the energy efficiency of residential buildings has a significant role to play in reducing the nation's overall greenhouse gas emissions. The Ontario Building Code has recently been updated to reflect a more str...

Air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) are commonly used in temperate climates throughout Europe and Asia to provide energy efficient heating and cooling. However, ASHPs have not been widely adopted for heating in colder climates because the coefficient of performance (COP) is lower when outdoor temperatures are colder. While many researchers are working on...

Energy modeling is a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy of possible building energy retrofit measures. Traditionally, energy models are developed using data collected from building floor plans and site visits and then calibrated using utility bills. In the work presented here, an energy model for an existing multi-unit residential building (MU...

Multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) in City of Toronto, Canada, contain more than half of the dwellings in the City and are responsible for a significant proportion of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with building energy-use in the residential sector. To efficiently reduce the impact of this sector, MURBs with the highest energy...

There are thousands of multi-unit residential buildings in and around Toronto, Canada. Many of these buildings were constructed during the 1960’s and 1970’s when energy was relatively inexpensive and therefore energy efficiency was not a major concern. Although new, low-energy buildings can gradually reduce the average energy intensity of this sect...

The Department of Civil Engineering at University of Toronto has recently undertaken a transformation of its undergraduate curriculum to substantially enhance the teaching of sustainable engineering practice and design. This paper summarizes that process, including the identification of knowledge and skills required for the planning, design and man...

The city of Toronto (Canada) has one of the greatest concentrations of high rise multi-unit residential buildings in North America. They house over one third of the city’s population and are responsible for over 40% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of these buildings were constructed following World War II and are plagued by lea...