Towards Formulating a National Guideline on the Design of Building Enclosures Subjected to Climate Change in Canada

This chapter identifies key research priorities for fulfilling a subset of the work under the Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure project that relate to the health and safety of building occupants under projected changes in climate. In particular, (dis)comfort and mortality of occupants because of future projected overheating of building enclosures and the performance of common wall assemblies used in Canada under extreme wind-driven rainfall events are of interest. These climate hazards were selected because Canada is projected to undergo large increases in temperature in the future. Premier health agencies have identified future increases in temperature as a potential health risk for Canadians. Similarly, wind-driven rain has been identified as a critical climate load for the assessment of hygrothermal performance of building envelopes.