This internship is in partnership with ISIS Canada. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard A23.1 requires air entrainment in concrete subjected to chlorides, not only for freeze-thaw environments but also for non‐freeze-thaw environments. Air entrainment presents some challenges in finishing of power trowelled surfaces, for example parking decks. Depending on the timing and amount of trowelling, air entrained slabs can be susceptible to surface de-lamination. As a result, air entrainment can not only add cost, it can make it more difficult to achieve a durable structure.
Despite being in a natural environment for success, Vancouver’s green technology industry has yet to take‐off. The Vancouver Economic Development commission, as part of its mandate, is seeking ways to help existing businesses and make policy recommendations to the City of Vancouver with regards to the green technology sector. The research project being undertaken focuses on determining the key opportunities for the green technology industry in Vancouver at the municipal level.
The project with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority , an agency that promotes the understanding, enjoyment and care of the natural environment, will entail the development of a robust data acquisition and monitoring system. This will be used for the long term performance evaluation of the various new and emerging green/sustainable/renewable housing technologies. The finished product will provide an impartial, robust hardware and software combination of monitoring and evaluation of the installed and future sustainable housing technologies in the two houses.
Ventilation design can influence the transport of infectious aerosols in buildings as well as the energy consumption of the building. Displacement ventilation (DV) holds the promise of reducing aerosol transmission and energy consumption. Stantec, a provider of professional design and consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, surveying, and project management, has already investigated DV in hospital rooms, but that work did not consider the transient nature of aerosol sources (coughs and sneezes), or the physics of transportation and transformation of moist aerosols.
Nowhere is Canadafs rich cultural diversity more present than in the techniques of construction brought to our country by the hands of our immigrants. Whether a religious monument or a simple farm house, architecture makes visible the invisible workings of the material imagination. In this sense, the fabrication of buildings, not just their form, is a cultural artifact. Alarmingly, an increasing scarcity of specialized and skilled tradespersons, complex building codes, and industrialized building systems threaten this invaluable cultural resource.
The purpose of this project is to undertake development research to apply methods for analyzing proteins from fungi that grow on damp building materials that are antigenic in humans. This will allow the presence of the fungal antigen to be detected in dust samples by methods similar to those used for pregnancy test kits and those used for measuring house dust mite and animal allergens in houses. In this case, such methods are used to aid in the rapid assessment of houses and buildings with potential mould problems and in epidemiology studies.
This research project will develop a numerical model of in-floor-heated slab foundations in Manitoba. With in-floor-heated slab foundations, it is important to know how to insulate the foundation to minimize heat losses to the ground while preventing frost heave. The proposed model will be used to analyze the effects of the amount and placement of insulation and the placement of in-floor-heating tubes in the foundation on energy transfer to the building exterior and ground.
The intern will be doing research in the field of terahertz radiation, specifically, the potential applications it has as a commercially viable tool in the wood products industry. Jonathan will be focusing on the potential of THz radiation in the Oriented Strand Board (OSB) production process. The OSB process is currently in need of a technology system capable of determining the critical parameters (moisture content, density and fibre orientation) of OSB in order to improve their efficiency. Current X-Ray technology is expensive, hazardous and comparatively slow speeds.
Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites has been widely used in many sectors of industry since 1960s. To ensure the quality and structural integrity of FRP, it is important to evaluate their physical quality and composition both during manufacture and while in use. For this purpose, a number of standardized tests have been developed to evaluate strength, flexibility, extent of wear, and so on. However, most of these tests require destroying the material to obtain relevant information.
Evidence-based research has provided a body of evidence which links improved patient outcomes with building features such as courtyards, views of nature and access to daylight. While the quantitative data produced by such studies makes a strong case to decision-makers for the inclusion of such features into healthcare facilities, the design of healing environments requires more than a checklist of desirable features.
