Dr. Helen Stopps
Areas of Specialization
Building performance, operation and management
Building policy
Social sustainability
Urban planning and development
Data analytics
Data-driven building modelling
Open data
Big data collection and analysis
Spotlight
Helen Stopps chose her undergraduate degree in transportation engineering as a practical way to make a positive impact on environmental and social issues. "The focus of my undergraduate degree on cities, the people in cities and their movement, and how that impacts social equity, inclusion and equal distribution of resources," she said, "has really informed my research and direction."
Stopps' data-driven research measures the performance of buildings on a regional scale and, in combination with qualitative methods, illustrates how variables like policies and stakeholders influence building construction and operation. According to Stopps, the ideas that arise from this type of research could be applied to improve built environments and their systems much more equitably.
"The indoor environments of the buildings in which we live impact our physical health and our quality of life," said Stopps. "We're doing too little to ensure that a building's quality is not influenced by its location or inhabitants' social status." Stopps hopes her research will inform policies and processes and make a higher-level impact than grassroots activism.
"Through both professional and moral codes, we have a responsibility to consider how our engineering and architectural science projects impact the environment, society and people."
- M.F. Shehzad, J.S. Lyeo, N. Bleibel, S.R. Haines, N.D. Spence, and H. Stopps. 2026. 鈥淎 scoping review of climate vulnerability indicators: implications for neighborhood-level vulnerability.鈥� Climatic Change. DOI:
- M.D. Wong, F. Ahmed, Z. Hoskin, N. Clyke, B. Big Canoe, P. Kinnear, R. Richman, S.R. Haines, N.D. Spence, and H. Stopps. 2026. 鈥淰isualizing on-reserve community housing experiences in Saskatchewan First Nations using rich pictures.鈥� Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. DOI:
- N. Zaky, T. Li, and H. Stopps. 2025. 鈥淰alidating the performance of low-cost IAQ sensors through co-location.鈥� Journal of Building Physics. DOI:
- H. Stopps, C.H. Lozinsky, and M.F. Touchie. 2025. 鈥淒ata-driven modelling of pressurized corridor ventilation system performance in a multi-unit residential building.鈥� Journal of Building Physics. DOI:
- P. Nojedehi, B. Gunay, B.W. Hobson, W. O鈥橞rien, M. Schweiker, and H. Stopps. 2025. 鈥淒o homebuyers prioritize sustainability? Examining the GHG emission impact of housing choices.鈥� Building and Environment. DOI:
- J.S. Lyeo, M.D. Wong, N. Clyke, B. Big Canoe, P. Kinnear, H. Stopps, N.D. Spence, and S.R. Haines. 2024. 鈥淭en questions concerning First Nations on-reserve housing in Canada.鈥� Building and Environment. DOI:
- Find a full list of Dr. Helen Stopps publications at