Sustainable Cities / en Build more, pollute less: U of T research centre tackles need for sustainable infrastructure /news/build-more-pollute-less-new-u-t-research-centre-tackles-need-sustainable-infrastructure <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Build more, pollute less: U of T research centre tackles need for sustainable infrastructure</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1244087583-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=PkSun2np 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-1244087583-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Re6aoh3u 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-1244087583-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ZI_SdCeB 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1244087583-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=PkSun2np" alt="a crane is reflected in a window and behind the window there are plants"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>siddiq22</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-01-19T16:00:22-05:00" title="Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 16:00" class="datetime">Thu, 01/19/2023 - 16:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A crane is reflected in a window at a construction site in downtown Toronto (Lance McMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/infrastructure" hreflang="en">Infrastructure</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainable-cities" hreflang="en">Sustainable Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The newest research centre at the şüŔęĘÓƵ's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering will develop innovative ways to meet the urgent and growing need for infrastructure –&nbsp;without further exacerbating the climate crisis.</p> <p>The Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment brings together seven researchers from across U of T, as well as a dozen companies in construction and related industries. The goal is to identify strategies that will lower the environmental footprint by reimagining how <a href="/news/tags/infrastructure">new infrastructure</a> is designed, where it is built and what materials are used in its construction.</p> <p>“In Canada&nbsp;and around the world, we have a <a href="/news/tags/housing">huge housing and infrastructure</a> deficit –&nbsp;there’s a big social need to build much more than we have right now,” says <a href="https://civmin.utoronto.ca/home/about-us/directory/professors/shoshanna-saxe/"><strong>Shoshanna Saxe</strong></a>, associate professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering and <a href="https://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=4911">Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure</a>.</p> <p>“At the same time, construction resource use accounts for up to a third of total global greenhouse gas emissions each year, a problem that is getting worse. It’s been estimated that if we continue current ways of construction, by 2050 the emissions due to new housing alone will cause us to blow past two degrees of global warming,” she adds. “If we want to avoid that, let alone reach net zero by 2050, we need to find ways to do more with less.”</p> <p>Saxe and her collaborators – <strong>Evan Bentz</strong>,<strong> Chris Essert</strong>,<strong> Elias Khalil</strong>,<strong> Heather MacLean</strong>,<strong> Daman Panesar </strong>and<strong> Daniel Posen</strong>, all fellow U of T researchers – plan to approach this complex challenge from several different angles. Some efficiencies can be found by looking at where new housing is built, as well as what it looks like.</p> <p>“The average person living in a city consumes fewer resources than the average person living in a suburb, because in a city you have more people per kilometre of sewer, road or electrical infrastructure. There are big rewards for <a href="/news/tags/urban-planning">well-designed cities</a>,” Saxe says.</p> <p>“The shape and types of buildings we build is also important. For example, Toronto has a lot of long skinny apartments, where a lot of the space is in the hallway. If we design differently, we can better use that space to provide more housing, or avoid [extra space] all together and save materials, emissions and cost.”</p> <p>Saxe and her team have also shown that large <a href="https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/large-carbon-footprint-of-new-house-construction-mostly-due-to-concrete-basements/">concrete basements account for a high proportion of the emissions due to construction</a> – building more of the structure above ground could improve the environmental bottom line. Other potential solutions involve alternative building materials, such as <a href="https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/how-re-thinking-traditional-building-materials-can-lead-to-new-strategies-for-carbon-capture-and-utilization/">new types of concrete that are less carbon-intensive</a>.</p> <p>The multidisciplinary team – whose researchers cover a wide range of expertise, from carrying out life-cycle analysis of construction projects to defining national carbon budgets – will address issues well beyond the traditional bounds of engineering. For example, the group plans to explore the legal frameworks that translate established housing rights into practical built spaces.</p> <p>“It’s absurd to say that the right to housing means that everyone has to live in a space the size of a closet,” Saxe says. “But it’s also absurd to expect everyone to have their own 3,500-square-foot house. Can we find a middle ground where everyone can live in dignity, without consuming in a way that threatens the planet?”</p> <p>The research collaboration&nbsp;includes 12 external partners&nbsp;in the construction sector: Colliers; the Cement Association of Canada; Chandos Construction; Mattamy Homes; Northcrest; Pomerleau; Purpose Building, Inc.; ZGF Architects; Arup; SvN Architects + Planners; Entuitive; and KPMB Architects.</p> <p>By working closely with this core group, Saxe and her collaborators aim to speed up knowledge translation, ensuring that the insights gained through their research can be applied in industry.</p> <p>“The conversations we have with our partners can inform their design and construction, as well as the conversations they then have with their clients, raising everyone’s level of knowledge and awareness,” she says.</p> <p>“We hope that by giving people –&nbsp;policymakers, designers and builders –&nbsp;the tools they need to address these challenges of building more with fewer emissions, we can improve outcomes across the built environment and create a more <a href="/news/tags/sustainability">sustainable future</a> for everyone.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 19 Jan 2023 21:00:22 +0000 siddiq22 179195 at U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes /news/u-t-experts-creative-solution-toronto-s-housing-problems-laneway-homes <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Brigitte%20main%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=V9CM8Orz 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Brigitte%20main%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_hnWZCf6 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Brigitte%20main%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=gEa3pIH_ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Brigitte%20main%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=V9CM8Orz" alt="Brigitte Shim"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-03T09:49:02-05:00" title="Friday, March 3, 2017 - 09:49" class="datetime">Fri, 03/03/2017 - 09:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Award-winning architect and U of T Professor Brigitte Shim lives in a laneway house in Leslieville (photo by Romi Levine)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/city-building-0" hreflang="en">City Building</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/facilities" hreflang="en">facilities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/john-h-daniels-faculty-architecture" hreflang="en">John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/location" hreflang="en">On Location</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/smart-cities" hreflang="en">Smart Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainable-cities" hreflang="en">Sustainable Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project... but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities” </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Twenty-five years ago, award-winning architect <strong>Brigitte Shim</strong> was scoping out a location to build her home.</p> <p>“It was a derelict lot with six abandoned cars, and weeds that were shoulder height,” she says.</p> <p>Shim, a professor at şüŔęĘÓƵ at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, decided the laneway in what is now Leslieville was the perfect space to design and build her dream home.</p> <p>“In the end, I felt it was a really amazing experience to actually have gone through, not only the design process but the municipal approval process,” she says. “After building it and living in it, I actually thought that it was a really interesting territory for future densification in our cities.”</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GHIGsb1I9kk" width="750"></iframe></p> <p>Today, laneway housing is seeing a renewal.&nbsp;</p> <p>As housing&nbsp;prices and the cost to rent in Toronto continue to rise, architects like Shim, city councillors, community groups and the şüŔęĘÓƵ are exploring different ways to make the city more liveable and sustainable – and laneways have been a popular starting point.</p> <p>U of T is <a href="http://www.updc.utoronto.ca/Assets/REO+Digital+Assets/Real+Estate+Operations/REO+Digital+Assets/FacilitiesPlanning/Huron+Sussex+Neighbourhood+Planning+Study.pdf">hoping to build</a>&nbsp;around 50 laneway houses in the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood – across the street from Robarts Library. While it’s still in the planning stages, the university hopes to kick-start a pilot project by 2018 to build two laneway houses in the alley located just west of Huron Street&nbsp;and north of Glen Morris Street.</p> <p>“It provides a different texture to the neighbourhood. Because these units will be smaller, it does add to a range of options for housing so not just in the Victorian homes that are scattered through the neighbourhood but also the opportunity for smaller-scale and more affordable living,” says&nbsp;<strong>Christine Burke</strong>, director of campus and facilities planning at U of T.</p> <p>According to the <a href="http://thelanewayproject.ca/">Laneway Project</a>, there are 2,400 publicly-owned laneways in Toronto, stretching over 250 kilometres. While there are a few laneway houses, most of these narrow streets are lined with graffiti-covered&nbsp;garages and garbage bins. Building a home in a laneway is only currently permitted on a case-by-case basis by the city, and it could take a while to get the right permits.</p> <p>City Councillor&nbsp;<strong>Ana&nbsp;BailĂŁo</strong>&nbsp;for Ward 18 and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon for&nbsp;Ward 32 are working with community groups <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/our-impact/cityworks/">Evergreen CityWorks</a> and <a href="http://lanescape.ca/">Lanescape</a> to explore different policy options to make laneway housing more widespread.</p> <p>“Together as a group we're trying to change the conversation and push forward recommendations to the City of Toronto on how to make laneway suites doable in the city,” says <strong>Jo Flatt</strong>, U of T alumna and senior project manager at Evergreen.</p> <p>The university is working closely with the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization, the City of Toronto, Evergreen and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects to ensure that all parties are involved in the vision for the neighbourhood’s future.</p> <p>“There's a profound understanding of the need to do something with lanes throughout the city, and this is a good place to start and&nbsp;show how it can be successfully done. That's our hope,” says Andy Vice, vice-president of the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization. “It's a chance to shine a light and lead by example.”</p> <p><img alt="Huron-Sussex Residents Organization" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3641 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/residents%20embed%202.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>From left to right, Huron-Sussex Residents Organization members </em><em>BĂ©atrice&nbsp;Lego,&nbsp;</em><em>Julie Mathien and Andy Vice&nbsp;(photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>The neighbourhood has a high turnover rate because a large proportion of residents are students,&nbsp;and visiting faculty members and their families. Members of the Residents Organization hope new housing options will allow residents to stay longer either as homeowners or on longer-term leases.&nbsp;</p> <p>“If there's more housing, there won't be the imperative to keep moving people through,” says Julie Mathien, president of the Residents Organization.</p> <p>Shim hopes more neighbourhoods in Toronto embrace laneway housing.</p> <p>“Development doesn't mean tearing down all the buildings and starting from scratch. As homeowners need more space, more flexibility, it's something that can be additive and doesn't need to be a razing of the block,” she says.</p> <p>Other cities around the world including Vancouver and London, England, have already embraced laneway housing, creating models Toronto can emulate, says Shim.</p> <p>U of T’s architecture talent can play a big role in shaping the way we think about housing, she says.</p> <p>“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project, a hypothetical situation, but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities,” says Shim. “We can tackle big questions&nbsp;like this and keep pushing on them. Student projects become real projects where we actually can reshape&nbsp;the future of our cities.”&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 03 Mar 2017 14:49:02 +0000 Romi Levine 105290 at What is public transit's effect on the environment? A U of T researcher crunches the numbers /news/what-public-transit-s-effect-environment-u-t-researcher-crunches-numbers <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">What is public transit's effect on the environment? A U of T researcher crunches the numbers</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SvGzee5y 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=w31A9lSc 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=viVDUljM 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-01-transit.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SvGzee5y" alt="Photo of Shoshanna Saxe"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-01T10:30:56-05:00" title="Wednesday, March 1, 2017 - 10:30" class="datetime">Wed, 03/01/2017 - 10:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Shoshanna Saxe analyses the environmental and social impact of large public transit infrastructure projects, equipping policymakers with data as they decide which investments to make (photo by Tyler Irving)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Tyler Irving</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/transit" hreflang="en">Transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/infrastructure" hreflang="en">Infrastructure</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/public-transportation" hreflang="en">Public Transportation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/greenhouse-gas" hreflang="en">Greenhouse Gas</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainable-cities" hreflang="en">Sustainable Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/smart-cities" hreflang="en">Smart Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The latest extension of the London Underground “turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag,” and Toronto's Sheppard subway line initially struggled to provide greenhouse gas savings with low ridership</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The benefits of building public transit include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, relieving traffic congestion and expanding a growing city. Yet each transit project is unique, and often the immediate environmental benefits can be a mixed bag.</p> <p>Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering <strong>Shoshanna Saxe</strong> crunches the numbers on existing infrastructure to provide key decision-makers with a reality check&nbsp;on the environmental and social impacts of today’s transit investments.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Engineers usually aren’t involved in policymaking, and policymakers usually aren’t involved in engineering,” says Saxe. “I’m trying to bridge that gap.”</p> <h3><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/11/transit-construction-can-cause-greenhouse-gas-emissions-that-take-decades-to-offset-study-says.html">Read about her work at the <em>Toronto Star</em></a></h3> <p>Saxe joined U of T's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering in August 2016.</p> <p>Before completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge, she spent three years at a major consulting engineering firm in Toronto, working on projects such as the Eglinton Crosstown transit line and the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension.</p> <p>“I love design – it’s amazing,” she says. “However, when you’re building things that people are going to use, you have to stay well within the limits of what you know for sure. I was curious about questions that we didn’t already know the answers to.”</p> <p>During her PhD, Saxe conducted a detailed analysis of the London Underground’s extension of the Jubilee Line, which was completed in 1999. She gathered data on the greenhouse gases produced during construction and operation of the line, then used transit and land-use surveys to estimate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to people using the line and living near it. By combining the two, she could calculate the net environmental benefit of that transit project.</p> <p>“It turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag,” she says. “If you make some optimistic assumptions, you could say that it broke even in terms of greenhouse gas emissions around 2012 or 2013. If you are more pessimistic, you’re looking at a greenhouse gas payback of twice as long.”</p> <p>Saxe says that the Jubilee Line extension sees approximately 175 million trips per year. On projects where ridership is low, the environmental payback period can be much longer.</p> <p>Saxe also studied the Sheppard subway line in Toronto&nbsp;and found it initially struggled to provide greenhouse gas savings with a much lower ridership. Over time, the Sheppard Subway Line has benefited from the decreasing emissions associated with electricity in Ontario. The results of the Sheppard Subway study were recently published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920916300621"><em>Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment</em>.&nbsp;</a></p> <p>“If you’re at Don Mills station, and you want to go north, east, or even southeast, the network doesn’t serve you yet,” she says. “We still see people from that area driving 70 per cent of the time&nbsp;so unfortunately there’s just a lot less opportunity for savings.”</p> <p>Saxe says that her dream project would be to follow a major piece of infrastructure&nbsp;such as a new transit line&nbsp;from conception through construction and use for 20 or 30 years.</p> <p>“I want to answer questions like:&nbsp;why did we originally build it, how did we originally build it, how did it perform over its lifetime, how did we maintain it and what did it need?” she says. “If we know how our present decision-making affects things decades from now, we can make better decisions.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:30:56 +0000 ullahnor 105283 at