Ph.D. Advisors

Mallory-Hill, Shauna, B.E.S., M.Arch., Ph.D., EDRA, IFMA, IDEC Assistant Professor

PhD Studies in Building Performance Evaluation
In North America, people spend over 80% of their lives inside buildings. The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of buildings is known to have a profound impact on human health, well‐being and cognition. Sustainably designed buildings, in particular, are considered to provide even better support for working, learning and healing, over traditionally constructed buildings. Building performance is tested mainly at the design stage through various forms of modelling and simulation. More field research is needed, however, to verify if "green" buildings actually perform in the way they are intended, once they are constructed and occupied.

Over the past decade, the Faculty of Architecture at the U of MB, is becoming internationally recognized for its capacity to undertake IEQ research, often partnering with industry and other academic partners. Dr. Shauna Mallory‐Hill’s research initiative, the Building Performance Evaluation Lab (BPEL) has been increasing its capacity to undertake field studies of buildings in operation, including the acquisition of state of the art equipment and development of protocols for measurement of thermography of structures, indoor air quality and visual, thermal, and acoustic comfort of buildings. Winnipeg's growing number of certified buildings and extreme climate provides an excellent context for testing building performance.

Dr. Mallory‐Hill is currently seeking students interested in undertaking a three to four year doctoral studies on topics concerning the building performance evaluation (BPE) of workplace and educational environments. The objective of this research is to explore and generate new knowledge around the impact of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on human health, well‐being and cognition with the intention to improve both sustainable building and operational strategies to maximize benefits and minimize potential harm. This work involves drawing from a “toolkit” of qualitative and quantitative research methods including field measurement and monitoring, document analysis, walk‐throughs, observations, semi‐structured interviews and user satisfaction questionnaires.

PhD topics include:

• The impact of green workplace design on worker satisfaction and wellness ‐ A pre‐ and post‐move case study.
• Determining the optimal window to wall ratio size for green schools in Manitoba based on energy performance and learner outcomes.
• Closing the performance gap, examining the relationship between occupants, building management & operations on achieving IEQ building performance goals of workplace environments
• What IEQ targets should we be using for green buildings? Adjusting IEQ reference standards for the assessment of passive building systems / environmentally responsive buildings

Shauna Mallory-Hill's complete bio click here