Adrien Sparling, Dan Palermo, and Usman T. Khan
Adrien Sparling, PhD Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, Canada, adriensp@yorku.ca
Dan Palermo, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, Canada, dan.palermo@lassonde.yorku.ca
Usman T. Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, Canada, usman.khan@lassonde.yorku.ca
ABSTRACT
The weather is constantly changing, but the climate is static; this assumption has long been the basis for construction codes and standards. Considering our current knowledge of climate change, it has now become necessary to review standards and ensure they provide sufficient guidance for designers. Following an extensive review of its catalogue of standards, the CSA Group identified several masonry standards as medium or high priority for review for climate change adaptation updates. Many prescriptive requirements for resisting climatic and environmental loading (such as humidity, wind, and temperature) are currently included in these standards; given that the factors for which they were selected to resist are now different and expected to continue changing, it is natural that these requirements should be revised accordingly. The CSA Group collaborated with the Canada Masonry Design Centre and York University to review current Canadian masonry standards. The review process was also an opportunity to critically assess the guidance provided in these standards in view of the state-of-the-art in building and material sciences, and in construction practices. In Part 1 of this two-part paper, background information is presented on the various avenues by which the impacts of climate change are expected to influence design and construction in masonry. Impacts discussed include the influence of changing climates on moisture within masonry wall cavities, changing patterns of freeze-thaw cycling on the durability of masonry units, and the impact of more stringent regulations related to building energy efficiency on masonry construction. Part 2 provides recommendations for the CSA standards adaptations, as well as a discussion of research needs and key stakeholder input.
KEYWORDS: climate change, durability, building science, CSA standards, freeze-thaw, moisture index, concrete
