A systematic review of time user surveys-questionnaires and monitoring variables used to track occupant behaviour in residential buildings

Abstract

In recent years, a growing body of literature has revealed that occupants and their interactions with the building systems and controls (window opening, thermostats, solar shading, etc.) have become a key factor influencing the building’s energy performance and their Indoor Environment Quality. Occupant behaviour can lead to major disparities between the predicted-simulated and the actual energy use in buildings, described by the term Energy Performance Gap, affecting possible strategies to reduce energy consumption. A potential solution to minimize the differences between the simulated and the real performance is by designing realistic models of occupants, which can be incorporated in a simulation code providing useful information for the design and/or assessment of new or existing buildings. Usually, occupant behaviour models are treated as static-deterministic schedules in building simulations, disregarding their stochastic and diverse nature. Accurate configuration of occupant models leads to fine-tuned simulations, enhancing the operation of building control systems. An occupant-centric building design results in building systems capable to meet occupants’ health and comfort requirements, minimizing at the same time the energy use. Although a number of techniques have been used to model occupancy behaviour, such as probabilistic and statistical models, in the present work, we systematically review the most recent techniques based on questionnaires and monitoring variables. These techniques are quite common and their application could help to better understand what drives occupants to interact with a building and its systems, making possible the design of more robust and realistic occupant models.