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Rsearch Report 10

Research Design & Methods Statement

A research question was presented to ask what can be done to reduce the unintended impact
of sick building syndrome (SBS) within code compliant houses in Australia. Through secondary
research it was discovered that the presence of condensation and mould in Australian homes
was down to the singular approach and short comings within the National Construction Code
(Dewsbury et al. 2016). This was compounded by some design professionals not being familiar with
concepts such as thermal bridging (Dewsbury et al. 2018), as well as not having a need to exceed or
question current code requirements. The requirement to undertake primary research was apparent
to understand why these shortcomings occur, and why higher standards are not normalised. An
opportunity to study the user experience within condensation affected homes is available, with a
focus on thermal comfort and their use of mechanical thermal conditioning systems.

Brendan Wilson The research will be conducted through data mining on social media, combined with interviews
and observational research to achieve a greater understanding of the changes which need to be
made to address consumer behaviour and code short comings