A research on occupant behaviour pattern of dwellings in the context of environmental comfort and energy saving

Abstract

Occupants make a passive contribution to the building energy balance by their very presence; they also can have an active role through activities like opening windows, changing thermostat set points, tuning radiator switches or lighting switches, etc. Furthermore, in existing buildings, occupants also play a role in decisions regarding any interventions in the fabric and systems, especially where occupants own the building. In this paper, an evaluation of the survey results applied to occupants of dwellings in order to reveal effects of occupant behavior on energy consumption. The survey was applied to occupants of dwellings presented in four different climatic zones. There are two main issues aimed in the survey. Firstly, it is aimed to find out behavior patterns which are mostly effective on energy consumption. The other aim is to query the perception of occupants on comfort conditions and energy saving potential. The results of the survey showed that dominant occupant behavior which have an effect on energy consumption very significantly is opening/closing window. A major amount of occupant is aware of saving electricity; thus %92.9 of occupants prefer energy saving lamps for artificial lighting. Another essential result of survey is, in a general manner, sensitivity on energy consumption and satisfaction of comfort are increasing by education level increases.