Kim Pressnail

Associate Professor Emeritus

Background

Research Interests

Publications

Teaching

News

Contact

Professor Kim Pressnail

Background

Professor Kim Pressnail tackles fundamental issues in sustainable buildings so that people can make informed decisions about energy use and health.

Professor Pressnail dedicates his research to improving environmental issues that occur within existing buildings. The scope of his work ranges from developing energy-saving retrofit plans for post-war multi-unit residential towers within urban environments, to improving airflow conditions in rural homes of children with asthma, to remediation of buildings built on contaminated soil, and assessment of buildings with mould and moisture problems.

Education and Designations

B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., Ph.D., LL.B.

Research Interests

Building science

Preservation of historical masonry buildings

Decay, durability of wood and wood products

Northern housing and foundations on permafrost

Insulated shallow foundations

Development of advanced wood-based members

Dynamic Buffer Zone

Publications

CitationType
Richman, R.C., Cianfrone, C.,  Pressnail, K.D., “More Sustainable Masonry Facades: Preheating Ventilation Air Using a Dynamic Buffer Zone,” Journal of Building Physics, September 2009.Journal Papers Published
Richman, R.C., Pressnail, K.D., “Quantifying and Predicting Performance of the Solar Dynamic Buffer Zone (SDBZ) Curtain Wall Through Experimentation and Numerical Modeling”, Journal of Energy and Buildings, November 2009. (On-line:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2009.10.021).Journal Papers Published
Richman, R.C.,  Pressnail, K.D., “A More Sustainable Curtain Wall System: Analytical Modeling of the Solar Dynamic Buffer Zone (SDBZ) Curtain Wall”, Building and Environment Vol 44 p.1, January 2009.Journal Papers Published
Dong, B ., Kennedy, C.A., Pressnail, K., “Comparing Life Cycle Implications of Building Retrofit and Replacement Options”, Canadian Journal for civil Engineering, 32(6), 1051-1063, 2005.Journal Papers Published
Engel-Yan, J.B , Kennedy, C.A., Saiz, S., and Pressnail, K.D., 2005. Toward Sustainable Neighbour-hoods: the Need to Consider Infrastructure Interactions. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 32(1): 45-57.Journal Papers Published
Richman, R ., Pressnail, K., O’Malley, L.,  Liebenow, N.,  “The Reduced Gradient Approach: An Alternate Method to Optimizing Humidity Conditions in House Museums in Cold Climates”, Journal of the Association of Preservation Technologists”, Accepted March 2010. NSERC PGSM.Journal Papers Accepted for Journal Publication
Caesar, D.J., Richman, R.C ., Pressnail, K., “Design and Construction of an Effective Window Wall System in High Rise Condominiums: A Case Study”, 7th International Conference on Tall Buildings p. 711, October 2009, Hong Kong, China.Conference Papers Published
Caesar, D.J.,  Pressnail, K., “Design, Testing and Quality Control of Curtain Wall Systems Manufactured in South-East Asia for Cold Climates”, ICBEST 2010, Vancouver British Columbia, June 2010.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C., Cianfrone, C.,  Pressnail, K.D., “More Sustainable Masonry Façades: Preheating Ventilation Air Using a Dynamic Buffer Zone (DBZ)” Building Envelope Science and Technology 2, Portland, Oregon, April 2010.Conference Papers Published
Pressnail, K.,  Richman, R., Kirsh, A.,  “An Innovative Approach to Low-Energy Building Performance Using Nested Thermal Envelopes”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 393, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Kirsh, A.,  Pressnail, K.,  Richman, R., “ Low-Energy Homes: The Economic Case for Building More Responsibly Now”, 12thNational Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 603, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Rowe, D.,  Pressnail, K.,  Richman, R.,  “Evaluating the Performance of a Double Façade in a Cold Climate: A Case Study”, 12thNational Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 211, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Timusk, C.,  Pressnail, K., Cooper, P., “The Effects of Board Density, resin Content, and component Layers on the Permeability Properties of Mill-Fabricated Oriented Strandboard”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 325, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.,  Pressnail, K.,  Cianfrone, C.,  “More Sustainable Masonry Façades: Analytic Modeling of a Dynamic Buffer Zone (DBZ) brick Veneer Wall Assembly”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 591, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Illaszewicz, G.,  Pressnail, K., “A Study of Thermal Insulation Practices in the Arctic Regions of Canada”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 187, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Maleki, A.,  Day, K., Pressnail, K., “An Economic Evaluation of Building Envelope Energy Retrofits”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 151, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Kesik, T,  Melnichuk, S ., Pressnail, K., DeRose, D., “Designing Better Envelopes for Cold Climates Using a Limit States Design Approach and Life Cycle Cost Analysis”, 12th National Building Envelope Conference on “Integrating Sustainability”, p. 483, May 2009, Montreal, Quebec.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.,  Pressnail, K.,  Kirsh, A.,  “Moderating the Impact of Sustained Energy Interruptions By Designing and Constructing Low-Energy Homes”, PLEA2009 - 26th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture, Quebec City, Canada, June 2009.Conference Papers Published
Kennedy, C.,  Bristow, D., Richman, R., Kirsh , A., Pressnail, K., "Hour by Hour Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for a Near-Zero Carbon Condominium Design" International Society for Industrial Ecology 2009 Conference, Lisbon, Portugal June 2009.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C.,  Pressnail, K.D., “The Solar Dynamic Buffer Zone (SDBZ) Curtain Wall: Theory and Simulation”, First Biennial International Conference on Building Enclosure Science and Technology Minneapolis, MN., June, 2008.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C.,  Pressnail, K.D.,  Kirsh, A.M.,  “Exterior Basment Insulation for Cold Climates: Further Proof of the Need to Build Better Now”, 11th Conference on Building Science and Technology, Banff Alberta, p.287-298, March 2007.Conference Papers Published
Haines, G., Org, M., Barkan, A.,  Pressnail, K.D., “ An Economic and Environmental Comparison of Standard versus Energy-Efficient Homes in Toronto, Canada”, ENHR Conference on Sustainable Urban Areas, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 2007 Unfunded.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C.,  Pressnail, K.D.,  Kirsh, A.M.,  “The Importance of Building Better Now: Mitigation of Winter Storm Damage”, International Society for Industrial Ecology, Toronto Ontario, June 2007.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C.  Pressnail, K.D., “More Sustainable Curtain Wall Systems: Using a Solar Dynamic Buffer Zone (SBDZ) to Reduce Energy Costs”, The 2006 Annual General Conference of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Calgary Alberta, 11p. May 2006.Conference Papers Published
Richman, R.C.,  Pressnail, K.D., “ Further Validation of the Inverse Method of Predicting Air Flow in Buildings”, 1st Canadian Conference on Effective Design of Structures, McMaster University, 10p. July 2005.Conference Papers Published
Timusk, P.C., Pressnail, K.D., 'Moisture Related Properties of OSB (Oriented Strand Board) presented at the 10th DBMC Conference, Lyon France, April 2005.Conference Papers Published
Engel-Yan, J.B,  Kennedy, C.A.,  Saiz, S.,  and Pressnail, K.D., 2005. Natural Infrastructure and Neighbourhood Sustainability. 33rd CSCE Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada. Accepted for publication April 2005.Conference Papers Published

News Mentions

Prof. Kim Pressnail Receives the 2018 Ontario Building Envelope Council Fellowship Award

The Ontario Building Envelope Council(OBEC) has selected Prof. Kim Pressnail as a recipient of a 2018 Fellowship Award for his long-standing support of OBEC. The Fellowship Award is awarded to […]

U of T CECA/NECA Competes in the 2018 Green Energy Challenge

Aiming to best their third place honours received last year, the University of Toronto student chapter of the Canadian/National Electrical Contractors Association (CECA/NECA) is competing in the 2018 ELECTRI International/NECA […]

Modular labs installed on U of T Engineering rooftop enable leading building science research

Two new facilities situated atop U of T Engineering’s Sandford Fleming Building will advance multidisciplinary building science research into how buildings consume and distribute energy and control indoor environments. The […]

Contact

Kim Pressnail
Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering
University of Toronto
35 St. George St.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5S 1A4

 

Office: GB314A

Tel: 416-978-1501
Fax: 416-978-6813

pressna@civ.utoronto.ca