In many large, urban areas of Canada, most of the population lives in apartment buildings. In the downtown core of cities like Toronto, the proportion is up to 70 per cent. With the current trend to intensify urban areas to limit sprawl into surrounding valuable farmland, the proportion of high-rise multi-family dwellers is expected to increase.
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Canada’s building codes have historically been formulated, at least in part, based on accumulated historic climate data that ultimately provides the essential criteria for most key building component performance characteristics. However, there are indications climate may be beginning to change. If buildings do, in fact, experience different environmental conditions over the next 40 years, these changes could potentially have a significant impact on our building stock.
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A project may involve not only general contractors, architects, inspectors, engineers, and developers, but also regulators, city planners, estimators, and many others.
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Many people believe white noise, pink noise, and sound masking are synonymous, and tend to use these terms interchangeably. However, there are distinct differences between each of them.
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Door openings are among the biggest sources of energy loss inside a building. Within large warehouses, manufacturing plants, or distribution centres, this problem is only amplified. When it comes to choosing the right door to control proper temperatures in different areas, the decision typically comes down to two factors: speed and insulation.
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On the surface, R-value is a simple thing. In fact, it has become the standard metric of thermal performance precisely because it is easy to explain and understand. Most insulation materials have ‘label R-values’ stamped on their faces (or at least displayed in large print on the packaging), but these values do not tell the whole story of how insulation performs in service. Some complicating factors—such as thermal bridging—have become fairly well-known.
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Although many advances over the last decade have improved energy efficiency, not every new building is designed and built with these technologies. In some other instances, older buildings that have undergone retrofits have better thermal control capabilities than newer structures.
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Today, more and more architects are literally thinking outside the box. Modern buildings are taking on unique shapes and forms, and structures are reaching staggering new heights. This shift means the purpose of the building envelope is also expanding.
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When it comes to specifying the doors for a loading dock project, safety statistics are a dramatic way to help people understand the important connection between choosing the right materials and equipment and the ultimate return on investment (ROI).
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When it comes to faucets in commercial or institutional buildings, there are considerations specifiers should keep in mind for the right outcome—in other words, saving water without sacrificing performance. Besides every project being different, each type of facility has its own unique requirements. There are the water conditions, local codes, performance characteristics of the faucets, and a wide range of other variables that range from owner or contractor preference to material availability.
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