Transdisciplinary project explores how homes can better support well-being

Can the buildings we live in do more than just shelter us and actually improve our overall well-being? 

A newly funded University of Calgary research project is setting out to answer exactly that by placing human experience at the centre of building design, potentially redefining how buildings are designed in Calgary and beyond.

The project, titled A Transdisciplinary Framework for Designing Healthier Living Environment, begins with a striking disconnect: People spend nearly 90 per cent of their time indoors, yet most buildings are not designed with human health as a primary goal.

Understanding the gap between design and experience

“We spend almost all of our lives in indoor environments, and that impacts our health at a very fundamental level,” says the project’s lead researcher, Dr. Sneha Jain, PhD, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. “Buildings are still largely designed around energy efficiency, safety and performance while health and well-being remain overlooked.”

Jain and her collaborators will focus on what makes people feel comfortable — and healthy — inside their homes. The goal is to better understand how buildings can support well-being. 

The project will explore factors such as daylighting, air quality, temperature and noise and how these conditions influence comfort, sleep, stress and overall health.

Calgary in context

Calgary, where climate conditions create distinct indoor challenges, provides a unique setting for the study.

“Calgary is a very interesting case,” says Jain. “We experience intense solar exposure, rapid temperature swings — even within a single day — and increasing wildfire smoke. All these directly affect how we experience our indoor spaces, and yet there is limited data on how residents define comfort in their own homes.”

Capturing how homes really feel

To address this data gap, the team will pilot a short survey across 75 to 100 homes in Calgary spanning a range of housing types, neighbourhoods and lived experiences, including affordable housing. Participants will be asked how their homes make them feel, not just how they function. 

“We want to understand how people perceive their comfort, that is what makes them feel good, what creates stress, and how their environments shape their daily lives,” says Jain. “We’re not just measuring buildings, we’re understanding people’s experiences within them. That's what will allow us to design spaces that are truly responsive.” 

A key component of the project is community engagement. The survey will be co-designed with the academic team, along with partners at The City of Calgary, local architects and community-housing organizations to ensure the right questions are being asked.  

A transdisciplinary approach 

The project is funded by UCalgary’s Transdisciplinary Connector Grants program and brings together a team of researchers from across its faculties and schools alongside industry and municipal-planning experts.

“We’re trying to understand comfort from psychological, biological, social and technical perspectives all at once,” says Jain. “No single discipline can answer this question.” 

Shaping the future of healthier homes

By generating Calgary-specific data, the long-term goal is to inform future building codes, design practices, and policy decisions.

“Current standards tend to generalize across very different climates and populations,” says Jain. “What works in one place doesn’t necessarily work in another.”

Jain notes the project will also lay the groundwork for future research.

“Understanding patterns is the first step,” says Jain. “From there, we can start designing interventions and influencing how buildings are created or renovated. Our direct partnership with The City of Calgary’s Urban Design office is crucial here, creating a clear pathway for our research to have a meaningful impact on how our city is built.”

The project is part of the Urban Alliance, a strategic research partnership between the City and UCalgary.

With office-to-residential conversions already underway in Calgary, the timing is significant.

“These transformations are happening right now,” says Jain, noting the City’s recent downtown revitalization plans. “It’s an opportunity to integrate health and well-being into design in real time.”

Team members

• Dr. Sneha Jain, School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape 
• Dr. Christopher Sears, PhD, Faculty of Arts 
• Dr. Kathleen Reinhardt, PhD, Faculty of Arts 
• Dr. Michael Antle, PhD, Faculty of Arts 
• Peter Spearey, City of Calgary
• Jessie Andjelic, BGS'06, MArch'09, SPECTACLE Architects
• Dr. Lorenzo Di Carli, PhD, Schulich School of Engineering