Unlocking the potential: Driving holistic performance improvements in multi-unit residential buildings

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This comprehensive research project is designed to unlock the full potential of multi-unit residential buildings(MURBs) as a means of providing comfortable, healthy housing in an environmentally and economicallysustainable way. Through an unprecedented partnership between the University of Toronto, CarletonUniversity, British Columbia Housing (BC Housing), the National Research Council (NRC), The AtmosphericFund (TAF), and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCH), we will develop new knowledge andtechnologies to address the multitude of current performance issues associated with building and operatingMURBs. This project is organized into three intertwined themes, each with tasks that address the various scales of the gaps in knowledge and research priorities: the occupant experience at the suite-level (Theme 1), the mechanical systems (Theme 2) and how the built form works within and impacts the urban environment (Theme 3). Across these themes, synergies in the data collection and analysis efforts between themes will lead to breakthroughs in how we design and operate MURBs as a system, thereby overcoming the siloed approach to building design, controls, and urban planning. Furthermore, as MURB residents historically are from under-served groups (racialized or economically disadvantaged), this research project provides an opportunity to address some of the inequities and limitations imposed on MURB residents by the current state of the art, and provide pathways to improving their quality of life. The overarching research objectives of the project are to address the most pressing technical challenges and opportunities to greatly improve the performance of existing MURBs and to develop guidelines for the design and control of new MURBs that support environmental and economic sustainability while promoting occupant comfort and health. Through the project partners' direct control over building design and development, we anticipate that the outcomes of this project will have an immediate impact on existing MURBs and set a promising course for new MURB performance in the future.