314 deaths, and there were 10,000 emer- gency room visits resulting in $476 million spent on health care because of residential stair falls. Steven Titus, president and CEO of Aer- coustics Engineers in Toronto, discussed how hearing impairment creates design and build- ing challenges. There are issues with back- ground sound levels, and sound isolation. He gave a demonstration of the challenges of managing the “signal to noise ratio.” Finally, Dean Mellway, acting director of Carleton University’s READ initiative (Re- search, Education, Accessibility and Design) outlined some numbers that show why ac- cessible building design is so important. Currently one in seven people have disabilities; there are 3.8 million working age Canadians (13.7 per cent of the population) with mobility challenges; and 1.3 billion people worldwide – or 2.4 billion directly related or involved with people with disabilities. And, as Amy Pothier reported, the numbers will increase substantially in the next decade as the population ages. www.threadsoflife.ca The Canadian Design and Construction Report — May-June 2016 – 15