How a 'happy accident' led this researcher to improve the built environment by considering the social, policy, and technical infrastructure systems
Dr. Helen Stopps describes her career in mechanical engineering as a “happy accident.”
“The interest for me was wanting to contribute to improving our environment, society, and well-being in practical and tangible ways,” said Stopps. “I had a lot of interests in other fields, like journalism or international policy. But, I seemed to have the skills needed for applied science, and I guess it was the most efficient way for me to have the most impact.”
After honing in on transportation engineering in her final year of undergrad and working in the energy sector post-graduation, Stopps looked to work out problems she found in the industry to reduce our electricity use and help manage emissions. This led to Stopps meeting her soon-to-be PhD advisor, who had similar goals, and introduced her to the realm of building science.
“It made a lot of sense for me to study in this area because buildings impact our day-to-day lives,” she described. “We spend about 80% of our time inside, and they can make us quite unwell if they’re poorly designed. Beyond that, they use a lot of energy and create a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Today, we are excited to welcome Stopps to FEAS as one of the newest faculty members in the Department of Architectural Science (DAS). Here, Stopps’ is researching ways to improve the built environment by considering the intersections between various aspects of building development and operation processes. Inspired by the interaction between the social, policy, and technical factors that go into constructing infrastructure, Stopps believes these areas work together to define building performance.
“When we talk about building science, we typically look into buildings at an individual scale. For example, we say that building X, Y or Z lacks proper ventilation, doesn’t keep heat in effectively or has other issues,” described Stopps. “But, what I found as you work through those problems is trying to generalize that to the city scale or even another building can be extremely challenging because we lack data on what’s typical in our surroundings.”
Stopps’ research looks at this challenge from two perspectives. The first approach is by generating more information through the use of new data collection techniques and open-source data to identify typical performance characteristics within building sites at a regional level and establish common challenges with it. The second approach expands on the knowledge found on how buildings should be constructed and asks, Why don't we see that implemented within the industry? “That’s where a lot of the integrated systems come in. The way we build is influenced by technology performance, people who are installing the technology, the people living in the buildings, government policies and cultural factors,” said Stopps. “All of those kinds of things come together to create this messy system with causal relationships that are not straightforward; it has feedback loops and reinforcing, or balancing structures within it. Ultimately, you might change one thing, thinking you’re going to get a particular outcome, but it doesn’t produce that result.”
At FEAS, Stopps is looking forward to putting her research into action by partnering with several Canadian communities and diving into their political, social, and industry structures. “I’m excited to work with those communities, see what’s going on there and the big effects that we’re going to get from understanding the building development and operation processes. But, I’m also looking forward to making a difference in those areas on a smaller scale and helping them manage their infrastructure and energy,” she said.
It’s clear that, for Stopps, working to improve our environment and society is the central goal of her work. She describes how this inspires her to educate the next generation of engineers and architects. “In these fields, there’s a real responsibility to use your work within the context of improving our overall well-being. It’s built into our code of conduct,” said Stopps. “That’s why training students is my passion because I want to influence them in a way that challenges them to think in broader perspectives.”
