Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor ... more Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor climate, by building characteristics, and by occupants' behaviour. Building simulation tools cannot precisely replicate the actual performance of ...
Occupant behaviour is often the first reason for the discrepancy between designed and real total ... more Occupant behaviour is often the first reason for the discrepancy between designed and real total energy use in buildings. A possible solution to bridge this gap is designing buildings whose performances show little variations despite of alternating occupants’ behaviour. The aim of this work was to investigate how occupants’ behaviour varies according to the building envelope design: different input values have been chosen for three design features – thermal mass, transparency and solar shadings – in order to discover the most robust ones. The study is carried out through simulations on an office building in 3 weather climates and probabilistic models for window opening and use of shading, based on real occupants’ behaviour, have been implemented. By testing the influence of building’s design on occupants’ behaviour, the present contribution highlights the importance of the robustness’ evaluation of a building during the design phase in order to obtain more realistic energy predictions.
Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by several factors related to the building properti... more Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by several factors related to the building properties and the building controls, some of them highly connected to the behaviour of their occupants. In this paper, a definition of items referring to occupant behaviour related to the building control systems is proposed, based on studies presented in literature and a general process leading to the effects on energy consumptions is identified. Existing studies on the topic of window opening behaviour are highlighted and a theoretical framework to deal with occupants' interactions with building controls, aimed at improving or maintaining the preferred indoor environmental conditions, is elaborated. This approach is used to look into the drivers for the actions taken by the occupants (windows opening and closing) and to investigate the existing models in literature of these actions for both residential and office buildings. The analysis of the literature highlights how a shared approach o...
An energy simulation of a building is a mathematical representation of its physical behaviour con... more An energy simulation of a building is a mathematical representation of its physical behaviour considering all the thermal, lighting, acoustics aspects. However, a simulation cannot precisely replicate a real construction because all the simulations are based on a number of key assumptions that affect the results accuracy. Above all, the real energy performance can be affected by the actual behaviour of the building occupants. Thus, there are great benefits to be derived from improving models that simulate the behaviour of human beings within the context of engineered complex systems. The occupant behaviour related to the building control potentialities is a very complex process that has been studied only in the last years with some focuses related to natural ventilation (window opening behaviour), space heating energy demand (in particular the adjustments in the temperature set-point) and natural light (focusing on window blinds adjustments). In this paper, a methodology is presente...
Several studies have highlighted the significant gap between the predicted energy performance of ... more Several studies have highlighted the significant gap between the predicted energy performance of buildings and their measured actual performance. Uncertainties regarding behaviour of building occupants are one of the key factors limiting the ability of energy simulation tools to accurately predict real building energy requirements . The paper focuses on the particular topics of space heating energy demand related to the occupants habits of adjusting heating set-points. The parameters influencing the user interaction with the heating control system are analyzed in literature for residential buildings, and the resulted influencing factors are illustrated. Statistical analysis of data coming from measurement carried out in Danish dwellings are performed to infer the probability of adjusting the thermostatic radiators valves and to determine the relationship between the (indoor and outdoor) environmental conditions and the occupants’ heating set-point preferences. The paper aims at prov...
Different aspects are investigated in order to highlight the causes of increased energy consumpti... more Different aspects are investigated in order to highlight the causes of increased energy consumption in buildings: in particular, the ongoing project IEA ECBCS Annex 53 groups the “influencing factors” into seven major categories empathising the role of occupant behaviour on energy consumptions. In fact, although building envelope and systems characteristics are known to have a significant effect on energy consumption, their performances can be already assessed in the design phase: and their energy performances have significantly increased in recent years for new and retrofitted buildings thanks to regulations and policies. At the same time, there has been a shift in the direction of research related to energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a focus on human-centred concerns. One key reason is a greater awareness that these concerns of human well-being are keyparameters in the performance of buildings, as highlighted by the huge gap between real and predicted energ...
Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by building properties, building controls and the w... more Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by building properties, building controls and the way that these are used by the occupants of the building. This paper focuses on natural ventilation concerning the occupants' habits of opening/closing the windows in residential buildings. Preeminent variables influencing the occupants' use of windows are investigated and the main results of a literature review are highlighted. Statistical analysis of data coming from measurements of occupants' window opening, conducted in 15 dwellings in Denmark, are developed to infer the probability of opening and closing windows and to determine relationships between environmental conditions and the occupants' window opening behaviour. The main physical environmental variables that have been found to be important drivers in determining the action to open or close windows are defined on the basis of the measurements. The ultimate goal is to provide more accurate information about drivi...
Models of occupants’ interactions with heating controls based on measurements were implemented in... more Models of occupants’ interactions with heating controls based on measurements were implemented in a simulation program. Simulation results were given as probability distributions of energy consumption and indoor environmental quality depending on user behaviour. Heating set-point behaviour of 13 Danish dwellings were analysed by means of logistic regression to infer the probability of adjusting the set-point of TRVs. Three different models of occupant’s interactions with heating controls were obtained and implemented in a building simulation tool. They were used to investigate how different probabilistic user patterns influence indoor climate quality and energy consumptions. The aim was to compare the obtained results with an actual/deterministic use of the simulation program. Since comfort categories are related to users’ expectations and the users’ impact is crucial on determining the energy consumption, findings highlight the influence of comfort categories on energy consumption....
Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor ... more Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor climate, by building characteristics, and by occupants' behaviour. Building simulation tools cannot precisely replicate the actual performance of ...
Occupant behaviour is often the first reason for the discrepancy between designed and real total ... more Occupant behaviour is often the first reason for the discrepancy between designed and real total energy use in buildings. A possible solution to bridge this gap is designing buildings whose performances show little variations despite of alternating occupants’ behaviour. The aim of this work was to investigate how occupants’ behaviour varies according to the building envelope design: different input values have been chosen for three design features – thermal mass, transparency and solar shadings – in order to discover the most robust ones. The study is carried out through simulations on an office building in 3 weather climates and probabilistic models for window opening and use of shading, based on real occupants’ behaviour, have been implemented. By testing the influence of building’s design on occupants’ behaviour, the present contribution highlights the importance of the robustness’ evaluation of a building during the design phase in order to obtain more realistic energy predictions.
Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by several factors related to the building properti... more Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by several factors related to the building properties and the building controls, some of them highly connected to the behaviour of their occupants. In this paper, a definition of items referring to occupant behaviour related to the building control systems is proposed, based on studies presented in literature and a general process leading to the effects on energy consumptions is identified. Existing studies on the topic of window opening behaviour are highlighted and a theoretical framework to deal with occupants' interactions with building controls, aimed at improving or maintaining the preferred indoor environmental conditions, is elaborated. This approach is used to look into the drivers for the actions taken by the occupants (windows opening and closing) and to investigate the existing models in literature of these actions for both residential and office buildings. The analysis of the literature highlights how a shared approach o...
An energy simulation of a building is a mathematical representation of its physical behaviour con... more An energy simulation of a building is a mathematical representation of its physical behaviour considering all the thermal, lighting, acoustics aspects. However, a simulation cannot precisely replicate a real construction because all the simulations are based on a number of key assumptions that affect the results accuracy. Above all, the real energy performance can be affected by the actual behaviour of the building occupants. Thus, there are great benefits to be derived from improving models that simulate the behaviour of human beings within the context of engineered complex systems. The occupant behaviour related to the building control potentialities is a very complex process that has been studied only in the last years with some focuses related to natural ventilation (window opening behaviour), space heating energy demand (in particular the adjustments in the temperature set-point) and natural light (focusing on window blinds adjustments). In this paper, a methodology is presente...
Several studies have highlighted the significant gap between the predicted energy performance of ... more Several studies have highlighted the significant gap between the predicted energy performance of buildings and their measured actual performance. Uncertainties regarding behaviour of building occupants are one of the key factors limiting the ability of energy simulation tools to accurately predict real building energy requirements . The paper focuses on the particular topics of space heating energy demand related to the occupants habits of adjusting heating set-points. The parameters influencing the user interaction with the heating control system are analyzed in literature for residential buildings, and the resulted influencing factors are illustrated. Statistical analysis of data coming from measurement carried out in Danish dwellings are performed to infer the probability of adjusting the thermostatic radiators valves and to determine the relationship between the (indoor and outdoor) environmental conditions and the occupants’ heating set-point preferences. The paper aims at prov...
Different aspects are investigated in order to highlight the causes of increased energy consumpti... more Different aspects are investigated in order to highlight the causes of increased energy consumption in buildings: in particular, the ongoing project IEA ECBCS Annex 53 groups the “influencing factors” into seven major categories empathising the role of occupant behaviour on energy consumptions. In fact, although building envelope and systems characteristics are known to have a significant effect on energy consumption, their performances can be already assessed in the design phase: and their energy performances have significantly increased in recent years for new and retrofitted buildings thanks to regulations and policies. At the same time, there has been a shift in the direction of research related to energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a focus on human-centred concerns. One key reason is a greater awareness that these concerns of human well-being are keyparameters in the performance of buildings, as highlighted by the huge gap between real and predicted energ...
Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by building properties, building controls and the w... more Energy consumption in buildings is influenced by building properties, building controls and the way that these are used by the occupants of the building. This paper focuses on natural ventilation concerning the occupants' habits of opening/closing the windows in residential buildings. Preeminent variables influencing the occupants' use of windows are investigated and the main results of a literature review are highlighted. Statistical analysis of data coming from measurements of occupants' window opening, conducted in 15 dwellings in Denmark, are developed to infer the probability of opening and closing windows and to determine relationships between environmental conditions and the occupants' window opening behaviour. The main physical environmental variables that have been found to be important drivers in determining the action to open or close windows are defined on the basis of the measurements. The ultimate goal is to provide more accurate information about drivi...
Models of occupants’ interactions with heating controls based on measurements were implemented in... more Models of occupants’ interactions with heating controls based on measurements were implemented in a simulation program. Simulation results were given as probability distributions of energy consumption and indoor environmental quality depending on user behaviour. Heating set-point behaviour of 13 Danish dwellings were analysed by means of logistic regression to infer the probability of adjusting the set-point of TRVs. Three different models of occupant’s interactions with heating controls were obtained and implemented in a building simulation tool. They were used to investigate how different probabilistic user patterns influence indoor climate quality and energy consumptions. The aim was to compare the obtained results with an actual/deterministic use of the simulation program. Since comfort categories are related to users’ expectations and the users’ impact is crucial on determining the energy consumption, findings highlight the influence of comfort categories on energy consumption....
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Papers by Valentina Fabi