2016 ASHRAE Winter Conference

This talk discusses major findings from three in-depth residential occupant studies that were conducted over the past two years. The objective of the studies was to shed light on the complexities of occupant behavior by performing long-term monitoring with interviews and surveys. The first study looked at the effect of billing schemes on occupant control of indoor temperature. The second study examined window shade use and found patterns are significantly different than in office buildings, but that occupants seldom move their shades. The third study examined the comfort and purchase decisions of modern, highly-glazed apartment buildings.

In rural China, household heating using solid fuel significantly contributes to both indoor and regional emissions of pollutants such as carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). This study presents the first results from an intervention study currently conducted in Beijing suburb, China. The purpose of this particular effort is to quantify the effectiveness of using a split-type, low-temperature air source heat pump as an alternative way of clean heating in rural households. Several “representative” occupant control modes were summarized, all based on residents’ own use pattern without much instruction.

Improving energy efficiency behaviors requires the consideration of technology improvement and human factors. While a growing number of recent studies have focused on the importance of environmental behaviors, little attention has been paid to a comprehensive set of social-psychological factors associated with occupants’ energy conservation and demand response behaviors.  Moreover, appliances and facilities are often shared among coworkers, which inhibit the development of a sense of individual responsibility. Gaining a deeper understanding of the social-psychological factors influencing energy efficiency behaviors in both public or residential buildings is especially relevant for policy and academic conversations about mitigating global climate change.

Previous research studies show that occupancy behavior accounts for about 30% of the variance in overall heating consumption and 50% in cooling consumption in residential buildings. Overall energy savings of 10–20% due to simple behavioral adjustments are a reasonable expectation. Unfortunately, there are few studies have focused on the specific case of behavior in low-income housing, where unique individual energy behavior, demographic and socio-economic factors come into play. This presentation investigates occupancy behavioral energy usage in low-income families through real-time measurement.  The behavioral aspects are presented in terms of thermostat schedules, occupancy presence and major appliance usage.