Residential Case Study: Analyzing Sustainability in Home Design

Assignment 2: Residential Case Study DIDE261 (23W-O-B) - Products & Materials: Residential Sarah Hill Professor: Susan Hall February 14, 2023

Table of Contents Introduction 3 Location 4 Site Orientation & Daylight Exposure 5 Building Structure 6 Master Bedroom 7 Living Room 8 Kitchen 9 Dining Area 10 Bathroom 11 Sustainable Features 12-13 Unsustainable Features 14 Rating System: The Living Building Challenge 15-16 Modifications 16-17 References 18 2

Introduction The residence I have chosen for DIDE261 assignment 2 is my own residential space in Toronto, Ontario.This residential case study seeks to determine both the sustainable and unsustainable features in my home. By going through each room and critically analyzing the space’s materials and products, I am hoping to figure out if environmental consciousness was at the forefront of any potential decisions. Using the Passive Haus rating system will provide further guidelines to analyze my: bedroom, living room, kitchen dining area, and bathroom. This knowledge will hopefully provide further insight into the complexity of selecting the correct and sustainable options for residential design. 3

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Location This residential home is located in the heart of Little Italy in Toronto, Ontario. This is a very central neighborhood on streets famed for their boutiques and foot traffic like College St. The specific home is near the corner of College St. & Clinton St. making it a walking distance from the College St. streetcar, as well as the main subway lines at Christie Pitts station. In terms of the home, it’s a three story and three unit home. There is the basement floor unit, main level unit, as well as a second/third floor level unit. There is a two-car garage in the backyard with two parking spots to be shared between the main and top floor units. 4

Site Orientation & Daylight Exposure The front of this Little Italy home has a South-West site exposure and the back is North-East. Therefore, in the morning when the sun comes up in the east the back area of the home will get a lot more sun. Then, throughout the day and towards the end, the south-western front will enjoy strong daylight. Overall, the home receives an abundance of natural light during the day due to the large, airy windows and less mature trees that don’t block the light from coming in. The space has strong daylighting capacities and natural light has always been a large benefit to this home. 5

Building Structure - green = sustainable Although it is not entirely clear what year this residential structure was first built, it was highly renovated and refurbished in 2020/2021 with the utmost thoughtfulness and care. Within Little Italy, many of the homes are Victorian-style and sport its original character. While my home has been refurbished, it still has a traditional red brick exterior with black window paning.A True Victorian Legal Triplex In The Heart Of Little Italy. The building structure consists mainly of: concrete , brick , stucco , glass , and metal . 6

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Master Bedroom - green = sustainable, red = unsustainable ● Potlights ● Non-toxic Benjamin Moore paint ● Passed down, locally made headboard with durable, high performance velvet blend ● Natural linen bedding ● Passed down 100% wool rug ● Passed down aged driftwood dresser/nightstand ● Insulated walls and flooring ● Insulated walls and ceiling ● Double glazed window with metal frames ● 100% Polyester window coverings 7

Living Room - green = sustainable, red = unsustainable, yellow = could be better ● Potlights ● 100% polyester sofa ● 100% alpaca wool throw ● Double glazed window with metal frames ● 100% Polyester window coverings ● Wood flooring ● Glass coffee table ● Insulated walls and ceiling 8

Kitchen - green = sustainable, red = unsustainable, yellow = could be better ● Potlights ● MDF Cabinetry ● White ceramic backsplash ● White quartz countertop ● Double glazed window with metal frames ● Wood flooring ● Stainless steel appliances - Smart Inverter Compressor with 10 year warranty ● Insulated walls and ceiling 9

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Dining Area - green = sustainable, red = unsustainable, yellow = could be better ● Potlights ● Wood flooring ● Durable engineered wood table ● Molded plastic armless chairs ● Passed down glass decorative vase ● Insulated walls and ceiling ● Double glazed window with metal frames 10

Bathroom - green = sustainable, red = unsustainable, yellow = could be better ● Potlights ● Durable slate wall and floor tiles ● Insulated walls and ceiling ● Ceramic shower walls ● Laminate wood vanity ● Window film privacy window with metal frames ● Riobel shower set and faucet ● Conscious water and flushing system 11

Sustainable Features As demonstrated by the green font labeling, there are a variety of sustainable features within this Little Italy residence. These sustainable features demonstrate the following sustainable design principles: Principle 1: Respect for the Wisdom of Natural Systems - The Biomimicry Principle This South-West facing home with oversized windows allows for ample sunlight to come in throughout the day and early evening. This allows for the residence to mainly run on sunlight for light and only use artificial light when needed. The strong daylighting opportunities throughout this residence allows for a natural feel and reduced energy consumption. Principle 2: Respect for People - The Human Vitality Principle As mentioned earlier in this assignment, the Little Italy residence was recently fully renovated by the landlords/owners. It can be very common for landlords to do quick, cheap updates for higher rent. However, in this case the landlord took serious care and thought about how they re-did this home. From the top-of-the-line fixtures, finishes, and product selections (ex: Riobel in bathrooms, water-saving toilet flushing, hardwood flooring, etc.) to the open-concept and airy design, this unit was built for the comfort and ease of human life. Principle 3: Respect for the Cycle of Life - The “Seven Generations” Principle Specifically in the bedroom, there are a lot of handed down furniture items and decor pieces. On top of the handed-down aspect, all items are actually highly sustainable in both their materials, and 12

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durability lifespan. The 100% wool rug is over 25 years old and still looks brand new. The headboard and wooden furniture items are over 10 years old and, with care, have remained and can remain in strong condition. Additionally, in the kitchen, the appliances we have come with a 10-year warranty due to their sustainability standards and internal SMART components. Principle 4: Respect for Energy and Natural Resources - The Conservation and Renewable Resources Principle This residence feels like it has strong respect for energy and natural resources. For example, the exterior structure seems to solely be built out of highly environmental-friendly materials. The brick structure is durable, fire-resistant, and highly weather-proof (Hall, 2023). On top of this, the metal window frames and double glazed glass futhers the strong weather proofing. The stucco portions are locally-derived, provide great insulation, and are very easy to maintain. The build, itself, makes it super easy to not overly use our cooling and heating system. That being said, when heating or cooling is needed, the system we has is forced air. Forced air is said to be the most environmentally-friendly heating and cooling system as it uses “45% less energy” than any other system (Handybros, n.d.). 13

Unsustainable Features As demonstrated by the red and yellow font labeling, there are also a variety of unsustainable features within this Little Italy residence. These unsustainable features show a lack of consciousness of the below principles of sustainable design: Principle 2: Respect for People - The Human Vitality Principle While MDF cabinetry can be highly durable and easy to clean, it is hard to recycle after use. This type of material and product is known to create harmful waste and can even release toxic chemicals that have adverse effects on human health. Principle 4: Respect for Energy and Natural Resources - The Conservation and Renewable Resources Principle The main source of unsustainability within the Little Italy residence, I think, can be found in the lack of proper respect for natural resources. From the MDF cabinetry, 100% polyester sofa material and window coverings, to our plastic dining chairs, our home has a selection of materials and products that do not have environmental concerns at the forefront of their programming. While these material choices do provide more budget-friendly options that are arguable quite durable, MDF cabinetry, polyester, and the plastic in the dining chairs is derived from “non-renewable resources” that contributes to a high degree of “CO ₂ emissions, and generates massive amounts of plastic waste and microfibers” (Nikolay, 2021). 14

Rating System: The Living Building Challenge (LBC) The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is an international sustainable building certification program first started in 2006 by the Living Future institute. It’s been said that the LBC “focused on the relationship between impact and effort” and recognizes that not all building projects face the same challenges or opportunities (Living Future, n.d.). Therefore, its goal is to incorporate regenerative design solutions that reduce harm. LBC’s seven performance categories or “petals” are as follows: place, water, energy, health + happiness, materials, as well as equity and beauty. ● Place: analyze location of site and the impact of construction on its environment and society ● Water: certified building designed only to use an amount of water that can be harvested onsite and purify the water without use of chemicals (Living Future, n.d.). ● Energy: reduce energy with on-site energy production ● Health + happiness: indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, integration of nature of life quality (Living Future, n.d.). ● Materials: eliminate use of materials with adverse effects on environment, health and society (Living Future, n.d.). 15

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● Equity: equal access environments for people of all abilities ● Beauty: genuine thoughtfulness for the quality of design and aspects of beauty Modifications Beyond just looking at the sustainable versus unsustainable, but at the structure as a whole, analyzing this residence for modifications that could better align it for the LBC became clearer. Based on the core “petals” framework of the LBC, I have outlined areas for improvement and modification below: ● Water: Opportunity to create an on-site rainwater catchment and/or a closed-loop system. While the residence doesn’t have any explicitly wasteful water systems, in order to align with the water consideration of LBC, it must only use the amount of water that can be harvested onsite. ● Energy: The addition of solar panels onto the roof could be a great option for on-site energy year-round. While windows are double glazed, allowing for strong weather mediation, introducing actual smart window technology with heating and cooling glass capabilities could further improve heating and cooling usage. ● Health + happiness: While the consistent use of pot lights within this residence is highly efficient and effective, a more layered lighting design would aid in visual comfort. It would be nice to have task lighting in the form of sconces, or even dimmers for the existing potlights to have better control of mood in the home. 16

● Materials: Based on the unsustainable list previously outlined, it seems the materials petal is at the forefront of concern to achieve the LBC. To improve, our home would need to leverage all-natural, recyclable, and durable materials. We would need to either donate or use the 100% polyester blend items forever, and/or replace our MDF cabinetry with a more sustainable option and get rid of it responsibly. ● Equity: While this home is a legal triplex, there are only stairs to go from floor-to-floor. Therefore, in order to be fully equitable to people of all abilities, this home would need to have some sort of stair alternative, like an elevator option built in. ● Beauty: Beauty was definitely a goal and thought out plan when it came to this residential build. Attention to detail was, thankfully, not spared and the landlords created a bright and airy space for all tenants. The space is comfortable and provides a positive experience. 17

References Hall, S. (2023). DIDE261 Lecture Materials. Yorkville University. Handybros. (n.d.). The Most Environmentally Friendly Heating Systems. https://www.handybros.com/blog/the-most-environmentally-friendly-heating-systems/#:~:text=As% 20the%20most%20viable%2C%20environmentally,than%20its%20air%2Dsource%20counterpart. Nikolay, I. (2021). How Eco-Friendly is Polyester? - Compared to Cotton, Nylon, and the rest. Selfless Clothes . https://www.selflessclothes.com/blog/polyester-fabric-sustainability/ Living Future. (n.d.). Living Building Challenge. https://living-future.org/lbc/ Zillow. (n.d.). Home Images. https://www.zolo.ca/ 18

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