Two more projects under the Campus as a Living Lab initiative have been completed! Students in SBEPA member John Robinson’s “U of T campus as a living lab of sustainability” course ENV461/1103 (Fall 2018) conducted occupancy evaluations of two University of Toronto St. George campus buildings. The Sidney Smith Learning Commons underwent an extensive retrofit in 2018, and the Physical Geography is slated for a future Net Zero retrofit.
Students Kim, Chohan, King, Chia, and Tom investigated how the Sid Smith Commons retrofit was performing from the perspective of its occupants, through a post-occupancy evaluation (survey and some interview). This study was developed in collaboration with with Faculty of Arts and Sciences clients, and facilitated by the Sid Smith Commons Student Assistants. Sylvia Coleman (SBEPA Postdoc) helped to tailor the survey in conjunction with client needs, in order to determine how the space was being used, satisfactions with room conditions, and self-reporting of wellbeing and productivity. Occupants overall felt that the space was enabling their activities and wellbeing, and ratings of the indoor conditions were overall positive. The students’ report can be downloaded here.
The Sid Smith Commons POE data was further analyzed by Masters in Statistics student Sergio Betancourt, and the results of the entire effort will be presented at the University of Toronto’s Teaching and Learning Symposium by SBEPA Postdoc Sylvia Coleman on May 28.
Students Klomp, Kwok, Lau and Yap conducted a pre-occupancy evaluation of the Physical Geography building on St. George campus for UofT client Facilities and Services, using the BUS methodology. The building is one of the six designated campus Living Labs, and intended for a Net Zero retrofit. The students’ work will help with decision-making on occupant comfort for the retrofit, and their report can be downloaded here.
SBEPA 