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NRC-IRC Media Room
Contact: Sylvie Dostaler, 613-998-9204
Press releases
Latest news:
Building Science Insight 2007, Fire Safety Research for Better Building Design
Every year, NRC-IRC presents a national seminar to provide construction professionals with practical information. Each seminar focuses on a single topic and reports the results of recent NRC-IRC research. In 2007 the seminar will focus on fire safety in buildings.
Designing Healthy Buildings for Us and the Environment
NRC has created new tools for next-generation building projects, but they won't fit in your tool belt. They are two computer programs helping design practitioners create healthy buildings.
NRC's Fire Research Program looks at new ways to evacuate buildings in emergency situations
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in collaboration with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) recently tested the effectiveness of a new fire safety system at an office tower in downtown Ottawa. Their research involved photoluminescent material (PLM) that glows in the dark, helping occupants safely evacuate a building without power or one filled with dense smoke.
The 2005 National Building Codes
The 2005 National Codes were launched in September 2005. Most provinces and territories will have completed adoption of these codes as their building construction regulation by the end of 2006. Ten years in the making, these new objective-based Codes are easier to apply to the renovation of existing buildings and more accommodating to technological innovation, further supporting the Canadian construction industry. In addition, close to 1,300 technical updates have been incorporated in the national codes, bringing important health and safety benefits to Canadians.
For additional information, visit http://www.nationalcodes.ca/ncd_home_e.shtml
NRC-IRC co-hosted the 2nd CIE Symposium on Lighting and Health - September 7 and 8, 2006
NRC-IRC co-hosted the second Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) Symposium on Lighting and Health, with support from major lighting companies, on September 7 and 8 in Ottawa. This important international event followed on the heels of the recent identification of a new receptor in the human eye that plays a role in regulating circadian rhythms and associated hormone production.
This symposium provided updates on the scientific progress made in the field since the first such symposium in 2004, with a stronger emphasis on how this new information might be applied in lighting recommendations and design.
Topics included: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Treatment, Alzheimer Patient Care, Cancer Risks of Shift Work, Benefits and Risks of Ultraviolet Light, and Implications for General Lighting during Day and Night.
The Indoor Air Quality Emission Simulation Tool (IA-QUEST) developed by the NRC Indoor Environment program team in partnership with the public and private sectors, consists of a database and a simulation program. The database provides information regarding the emission, or off-gassing, of 90 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 69 building materials commonly used in North America. The simulation program predicts the indoor air concentrations in a room for various design/refurbishment options based on material usage and ventilation rates.
By reducing overall indoor VOC loads, indoor air quality improves and ventilation needs decrease. This leads to savings in operational costs, while promoting good indoor health and increased occupant comfort and productivity.
The target VOC list and database continues to evolve by responding to new products, knowledge and future needs.
Since its public release, IA-QUEST has been downloaded from the NRC-IRC Web site by a diverse collection of individuals and agencies throughout Canada and the world.
In 1994, the Fire Research program undertook research to evaluate the effectiveness of compressed air foam (CAF) and subsequently developed a system to extinguish both solid and liquid fuel fires. This CAF technology, which uses compressed-air, water and a foam concentrate, is unique in the world. It was shown to have superior fire suppression capabilities as well as many advantages compared to other fire suppression systems, and is suitable for many applications.
Through technology transfer and a licensing agreement with FireFlex Inc., NRC-IRC brought the technology to the point where it is now licensed and established in industry as a highly effective fire suppression system that saves lives, reduces damage to property and has a low environmental impact. Further research is currently underway to adapt the system to housing units in remote areas of the country, particularly in the north, where access to an adequate water supply is limited.
In recognition of its effectiveness in technology transfer, NRC-IRC was awarded the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) 2006 Award for its work on the compressed air foam technology.
The state of Canada's municipal infrastructure systems poses one of the major challenges we are facing at the beginning of the 21st Century. Sustainable development, and the renewal and productivity of our communities, depend largely on the quality and efficiency of these systems.
The Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Research (NRC-CSIR) in Regina, one of NRC's newest technology cluster initiatives, is working closely with universities, municipal governments and industrial partners in Regina, the Province of Saskatchewan and elsewhere, to pursue a multi-disciplinary research and development program to develop innovative technologies and decision support tools that address infrastructure sustainability.
In 1994, members of the roofing community met at NRC and formed, SIGDERS (the Special Interest Group for Dynamic Evaluation of Roofing Systems), to evaluate roofing systems under dynamic conditions. Capturing ten years of research, SIGDERS has recently launched a new design guide for engineers, architects and building officials containing information on how to better design mechanically attached flexible membrane roof assemblies to resist wind uplift.
Roofs are constantly exposed to the elements and as such, they are typically one of the first parts of a building to suffer damage during hurricanes. Poor design, faulty construction or the selection of non-compatible materials, can result in severe wind damage to the roof. This publication will help advance the design and construction of flexible membrane roofs used on more than 40% of North American commercial and institutional buildings including hospitals, emergency shelters, fire stations and other critical buildings.
