CIB World Building Congress in Toronto

On May 2-7, the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Research in Construction (NRC/IRC) will host the CIB World Building Congress in Toronto — the 50th anniversary of the event.

The CIB conference “Building the Future” will be held in conjunction with two other conferences:

the 5th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings;

the 6th International Conference on Multipurpose High-rise Towers and Tall Buildings.

Background

Founded in 1953 and with an office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, CIB stands for “Conseil International du Btiment pour la Recherche l’tude et la Documentation,” or, “International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation.”

Dr. Sherif Barakat, P.Eng., director-general of NRC/IRC, is also current president of CIB. He says the CIB is “the world’s foremost platform for international cooperation and information exchange in the area of building and construction research and innovation.” CIB has a worldwide network of over 5,000 experts active in construction-related research and innovation.

Though the conference will profile leading edge research, it is also being tailored to the needs of practising engineers. According to Dr. Barakat: “This unique event — three conferences in one — will provide a forum for the ‘meeting of research and practice,’ a rare opportunity for communication between researchers, construction practitioners and building managers on a host of critical issues related to buildings.”

Program

Seminars will cover areas ranging from building processes, to sustainable construction, security and safety, integrated services, air quality, special design for tall structures, etc.

For the full program and to register, visit www.cib2004.ca. The conference secretariat is Monique Myre, IRC/NRC, tel. 613-993-0435, fax 613-952-7673, e-mail cib2004@nrc.ca

Presentations by researchers from NRC/IRC to be given at the conference are listed below.

Application of Modeling Tool to Assess Moisture and Thermal Performance of Retrofitted Wall Assemblies

Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya, Kumar Kumaran, David Van Reenen, Fitsum Tariku (NRC/IRC)

Design With Skyvision: a Computer Tool to Predict Daylighting Performance Of Skylights

A. Laouadi (NRC/IRC)

Parameters Affecting the Fire Resistance Performance of Floor Systems

Mohamed A. Sultan (NRC/IRC)

Adding Sub-Hourly Stochastic Occupancy Prediction, Occupancy- Sensing Control And Stochastic Manual Control To Esp-R

Denis Bourgeois (cole d’architecture, Universit Laval), Jon Hand, Iain Macdonald, (Energy Systems Research Unit, University of Strathclyde), Christoph Reinhart (NRC/IRC)

The Origin and Development of Canada’s Objective-Based Codes Concept

John C. Haysom, Denis Bergeron, Richard J. Desserud (Canadian Codes Centre/NRC)

How to Use Fire Risk Assessment Tools to Evaluate Performance-based Designs

Noureddine Benichou, Ahmed H. Kashef (NRC/IRC)

Design Fires for Fire Safety Engineering: a State-of-the-Art Review

Alex C. Bwalya. Mohamed Sultan, Noureddine Benichou (NRC/IRC)

Quantification of Effects of Air Velocity on VOC Emissions from Building Materials

D. Won, G. Nong, C.Y. Shaw (NRC/IRC)

Large-Scale Laboratory Measurements And Benchmarking of an Advanced Hygrothermal Model

Wahid Maref, Michael A. Lacasse, Dan Booth (NRC/IRC)

Role of Fire Resistance Issues in the First Ever Collapse of a Steel-Framed Building (collapse of WTC 7)

Venkatesh Kodur, Ph.D., P.Eng. (NRC/IRC)

The Benefit of Intended-Use (Performance-Based) Standards in Support of Objective-Based Codes

Bruno Di Lenardo, Gilles Poirier, Luc Cecire, Ron Waters (NRC/IRC)

International Co-operation in the Technical Assessment Field

Luc F. Ccire, Gilles Poirier, Bruno Di Lenardo, Alphonse Caouette, Eleni Deroukakis (NRC/IRC)

Evaluation Strategy for Innovative Construction Products and Systems

Gilles F. Poirier, Bruno Di Lenardo, Luc Ccire, Alphonse Caouette (NRC/IRC)

Vapour Barrier and Moisture Response of Wood-frame Stucco Walls — Results from Hygrothermal Simulation

Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya, Kumar Kumaran, David van Reenen (NRC/IRC)

Critical Issues and Opportunities for Managing Municipal Infrastructure: Preliminary Survey Results of Municipal Infrastructure Investment Planning Project

Dana J. Vanier, Saidur Rahman (NRC/IRC)

Towards Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as an Integrated Decision Support Tool for Municipal Infrastructure Asset Management

Dana J. Vanier (NRC/IRC)

Life Cycle Cost Analysis as a Decision Support Tool for Managing Municipal Infrastructure

Saidur Rahman, Dana J. Vanier (NRC/IRC)

An Integration Approach for Developing AEC/FM Total Project Systems

Mahmoud M.R. Halfawy (NRC/IRC), Thomas M. Froese (University of British Columbia), Dana Vanier (NRC/IRC), Brian Kyle (Public Works and Government Services Canada)

Service Life Tests for Roofing Membranes

Carl G. Cash, Arthur G. Davies, Jr., David L. Niles (Simpson Gumpertz & Heger), David M. Bailey (US Army Corps of Engineers), Ana H. Delgado, Ralph M. Paroli (NRC/IRC)

Greenhouse Gas Reduction by Improvement in Concrete Basement Redesign

P. Russell, N. Mailvaganam, A. Houston (NRC/IRC)

Design Considerations for External Moisture Management in Wood-Frame Walls

Madeleine Rousseau, Steve Cornick (NRC/IRC), Alan Dalgliesh (consultant)

Recent Advances in Methods for Service Life Prediction of Building Materials and Components — an Overview

M. A. Lacasse (NRC/IRC), C. Sjostrom (University of Gavle, Sweden)