SUDBURY — Affordable, practical housing for Northern Ontario is the focus of a new research institute recently approved by Laurentian University’s governing body.
The research institute in question is called the Centre for Housing Innovation. Its approval was requested by Laurentian’s Research Development and Creativity Council.
The creation of the Centre for Housing Innovation ”stems from a critical need to spearhead innovation and knowledge mobilization in the fields of housing sustainability and affordability,” said a description included in the package for the June 17 meeting of the university’s senate.
“At its core, the centre aims to address key challenges related to housing design and construction in Northern Ontario.
“Through community and industry partnerships, the Centre will act as a hub for knowledge exchange in pursuit of innovative solutions to make housing more accessible, sustainable and affordable, while contributing to the well-being of northern communities and transforming the housing and construction industry.”
The centre’s research activities will “focus on novel and scalable solutions in housing design and construction aimed at reducing construction costs, enhancing productivity and promoting sustainability,” the written materials continued.
“This involves the development and testing of locally sourced bio-based materials, and their suitability as a building assembly in northern climates, exploring advanced manufacturing and prefabricated construction processes and examining built forms, policies and regulations that impact housing affordability and sustainability. The research will be both theoretical and applied, with a significant focus on real-world implementation.”
The research centre’s director will be Steven Beites of the McEwen School of Architecture, with other affiliated faculty members being Emilie Pinard of the McEwen School, Marc Arsenault of the Bharti School of Engineering and Computer Science, Jordan Babando of the School of Social Sciences and Meng Cheng Lau of the Bharti School.
The research centre will be financially supported by the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, FedNor, Desjardins and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities through a successful Training, Equipment and Renewal Fund grant.
“The centre will enhance the university's research mission,” said Laurentian vice-president, research Tammy Eger, in presenting the case for the new research institute to the university’s senate June 17.
“It has at least three full-time faculty members. You can see they're listed there, with Prof. Steven Beites from the McEwen School of Architecture leading the initiative with his colleagues. “It's got representation from social sciences and from engineering and from architecture. So it's a nice interdisciplinary group. They have considerable interest from external partners, and it will be a great opportunity for student training and to attract funding.”
The creation of the Centre for Housing Innovation comes following the closure of several defunct Laurentian research centres over the past year as a result of fallout from its 2021-2022 insolvency.
Last month, Laurentian’s senate voted to close the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Human Sciences and the Centre for Humanities Research and Collaboration.
A year ago, Laurentian’s senate also voted to close the Centre for Evolutionary Ecology and Ethical Conservation as well as the Evaluating Children’s Health Outcomes Research Centre.
Another research institute, Institut franco-ontarien, severed ties with Laurentian back in 2021 following the university’s insolvency restructuring, and has also been officially taken off of the university’s books as a research centre in the past year.
