Users’ impact on domestic energy consumption

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The goal of this project is to improve the understanding of the impact of users on domestic energy use by conducting a pilot study in the HSB Living Lab. The aim is to develop a methodology to study the impact of occupants’ physiological and behavioural responses on their home’s energy use. The objectives of the project are to develop and test a questionnaire to collect information on occupants’ perceived behaviours and responses to the indoor environment (use of thermostats, windows, other HVAC controls); to test non-intrusive methods (e.g. wearable sensors) of occupants’ physiological, psychological and behavioural responses to thermal stimuli; to analyse the impact of occupants on energy consumption through comparison of the occupant data (questionnaire responses and wearable sensor data) with the homes’ indoor climate and energy data collected in the HSB Living Lab; and to explore the possible reasons of user behaviour to the thermal environment from the physiological and psychological aspects.