Measuring Overheating in Multi-Unit Residential Buildings Project
Overheating in buildings caused by rising summer temperatures is a major climate risk for residents of multi-unit buildings in the District of Saanich and the CRD.
The increasing frequency, severity, and duration of extreme heat events can have significant negative impacts on human health and well-being. For example, in 2021, 619 people died during the heat dome—almost all at home. The need for cooling is growing rapidly and is already one of the leading motivations for building owners and residents to retrofit their buildings with heat pumps.
The information that is collected will support policy development and advocacy efforts by providing a better understanding of the extent that overheating is occurring in our community.
How it will work
The project will deploy 50 to 100 temperature and humidity sensors (the sensors may collect other indoor air quality indicators as well, such as Co2 levels, total VOCs, and particulate) to measure and send data to a central database for analysis. Sensors will be provided to selected residents who live in multi-unit residential buildings (MURB). All collected data will be analyzed and summarized, providing important insights into living conditions in MURB units.
Additional resources
Get involved
Interested in participating? Complete the intake survey! Participants will be selected based on a variety of criteria including the orientation, storey, size and location of their home.
To help spread the word, please tell your neighbours, particularly those who live on different floors and sides of your building. The research team is hoping to capture multiple streams of data in the same building.
All survey respondents will have the option to be entered into a draw for a $25 gift certificate to a local business.
Next steps
When the data collection period is complete, we will share what we learn as well as the experiences of participants. Data will be shared through videos, social content and a short summary of findings in addition to a longer report.
Captured data will be shared widely to help build the case for installing heat pumps in multi-unit residential buildings. All sensors used for this research will be repurposed by the District for use in future research projects.
Phases
Data collection
The project will deploy 50-100 temperature and humidity sensors (and maybe CO2 and Particulate concentrations as well) to collect and report data to a central database for analysis. Sensors will be installed in suites within multi-unit residential buildings selected to represent a range of risk levels identified in the Capital Region Heat Mapping project. All collected data will be analyzed and summarized to provide deep insight into living conditions in MURB units.
Participants will be selected based on a variety of criteria including the orientation, storey and size and location of their home.