Quantifying Building Performance in Nine Case Studies of High-performance Houses in Ontario, Canada

Residential buildings have a significant impact on human health and the environment. Highperformance buildings aim to minimize this impact; however, research has shown that significant performance gaps between predicted and measured building performance can exist. Evaluations of high-performance single-family residential buildings are rarely conducted and lack a consistent methodology. This study presented and tested a method of building performance evaluation for these buildings. Energy models, engineering drawings, utility data, in-situ testing, and occupant interviews were used to assess the energy and water performance, and indoor environmental quality of nine high-performance houses in Southern Ontario. Across the housing sample, energy use performance gaps ranged from -30% to +50% of predicted values and water use intensity varied by up to +300%. Results of indoor environmental quality monitoring varied by house, primarily due to differences in occupant behaviour. This study worked to identify common issues across the houses and evaluate the proposed methodology.