4. Methodology
Four high-rise residential towers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, identified through local networks of the researcher, were chosen for this research. All four towers met the criteria of being LEED Gold certified and aim to perform better than typical residential construction in Toronto. The buildings had been occupied for at least 18 months at the time of surveying (this ranged from 20 to 34 months). The towers range from 14 to 24 stories, and contain between 178 and 305 units each. Three of the towers were built by one developer, the fourth building by a different developer. Results from this study indicate that roughly the same number of suites are occupied by owners compared to rental units owned by investors.
Due to their ambition to perform better than typical buildings, the study buildings use various features which make them attractive research sites. One feature which is explicitly explored in the questionnaire is the provision of in-dwelling energy-recovery ventilation (ERV) systems which are entirely controlled by the occupants. In traditional high-rise residential towers in Toronto, centralized ventilation delivers treated air to pressurized corridors, forcing air under unit doors and into dwellings. In the study buildings, dwelling entry doors are either entirely or partially weather-stripped, forcing occupants to take care of their own ventilation using either an in-suite energy-recovery ventilator (which exchanges heat from exhaust air into incoming outdoor air) or by using operable windows, which can undermine energy efficiency. Additionally, each dwelling has at least one thermostat which controls a fan-coil system that delivers either heating or cooling, giving the occupants ample ability to control thermal conditions in their dwellings.