Roles and responsibilities
Building physics engineer and Team Leader for the Facade Systems and Products group focusing on research related to the thermal and hygrothermal response and long-term performance of wall components and assemblies subjected to historical and future climate loads
Current research and/or projects
- Lead researcher within the NRC's Construction Research Centre, Climate Resilience Built Environment research program dings – with a focus on the durability of the building envelope to changing climate loads, the risk to overheating in living and working spaces due to heat extreme events arising from climate change and updating of building codes and standards to permit adapting building enclosures to a changing climate.
- Development of a guideline for the design for durability of the building envelope
- Supporting research related to Nature Based Solutions as an approach to mitigate the effects of changing climate within Urban agglomerations
Research and/or project statements
- Principal investigator – Development of:
- Guidelines for use of drainage components in rainscreen walls
- Guidelines for window installation in walls
- Guideline for the design for durability of the building envelope
- Project Task lead – Weathertightness of building enclosures
- Advances in development of generic methods for assessing moisture performance of wall assemblies
- Development of methods for assessing weathertightness of walls and wall components
- Project Task lead – Durability of building materials and components – Developed methods for
- Service life planning of buildings
- Assessment of the longevity of jointing products and their in-service performance
Education
- Ph.D., Building Engineering, Concordia University, Centre for Building Studies (1991)
- M.Eng.*, Building Engineering, Concordia University, Centre for Building Studies (1986)
- B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston (1977)
Professional activities/interests
- CIB - International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction
- International Standards Organization (ISO)
- Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
- Canadian Society for Civil Engineers (CSCE)
- American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
- Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)
Affiliations
- CIB Board Member (2019 - )
- CIB Commission Coordinator W080 – Durability of Building Materials and Components
- CIB Task Group Member TG97 – Nature-Based Solutions for Buildings and Communities
- ISO TC 59 SC14 (Chair) – Service Life Planning
- Canadian Advisory Committee to ISO TC 59 SC 14 Service Life Planning
- CSA S478 Standards Committee member – Design for Durability in Buildings
- ASCE Technical Committee on Hydro-climatology and Engineering Adaptation
- ASTM Technical Committee E06 Building Performance
- ASTM Technical Committee C24 Building seals and Sealants
Awards
- CIB Program Committee commendation, Leadership in the international research community as
Coordinator for CIB W080 (2019 & 2005) - Research Award for Foreign Specialists, Building Research Institute, Japan (2001)
- ASCE American Society for Civil Engineers: Best paper Award (1998)
- *Recipient of F.A. Gerard prize awarded annually, when merited, to most deserving graduate of the Master of Engineering program (1986)
Certification/Licenses/Trades
- P.Eng. / Professional Engineers Ontario
Key publications
- Lacasse, Michael A.; Ge, Hua; Hegel, Mark; Jutras, Robert; Laouadi, Aziz; Sturgeon, Gary; Wells, John (2018), Guideline on design for durability of building envelopes, Technical Report CRBCPI-Y2-R19 / NRCC-CONST-56270E; National Research Council Canada; Construction Research Centre; 35 p. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4224/23003983
- Lacasse, M. A.; Defo, M.; Gaur, A.; Moore, T.; Sahyoun, S. (2018), Approach for assessing the climate resilience of buildings to the effects of hygrothermal loads, Technical Report CRB-CPI-Y2-R18 / NRCC-CONST-56269E; National Research Council Canada; Construction Research Centre; 44 p. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4224/23003982
- Morelli, Martin; Lacasse, Michael A. (2018), A systematic methodology for design of retrofit actions with longevity, Journal of Building Physics DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1744259118780133 / ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7640-3701
Michael Lacasse
Senior Research Officer
Construction
1200 Montreal Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6
Preferred language: English
Other(s): English, French
Telephone: 343-990-9141
Follow me
Expertise
Environment, Climate, Climate Modelling, Carbon budget, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Resources, Urban, Green technologies, Materials, Materials technology, Polymers, Technology, Civil engineering, Simulation & Numerical Modelling, Technological innovation, Technology transfer