Mapping occupants thermal discomfort responses in households using SenseCam

Gauthier, S. (2012) Mapping occupants thermal discomfort responses in households using SenseCam. M’Sirdi, N., Namaane, A., Howlett, R.J. and Jain, L.C. (eds.) In Sustainability in Energy and Buildings: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference in Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB’11). Springer. pp. 437-445 . (doi:10.1007/978-3-642-27509-8_37).

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Attempts to reduce the energy consumed in UK homes have had limited success. One reason for this has been identified as the ‘rebound effect’, where the occupants’ responses to their thermal environment change in unexpected ways after interventions. Although much of the research on heating patterns in dwellings has focused on achieving thermal comfort, less is understood about the way occupants form their responses. Using empirical methods drawn from social and cognitive sciences, this chapter proposes a set of tools, implemented in a pilot study, carried out on a small sample of UK households during winter of 2010. One of the tools used, the SenseCam facilitates an electronic diary collection by logging occupants’ responses in a systematic approach. Preliminary monitoring works show that different householders are interacting with their home thermal comfort systems in very different ways, and that their responses diverge from the current predictive models.

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