One size does not fit all: Understanding user preferences for building automation systems

Abstract

In recent years, technological advances have substantially extended the capabilities of automation systems in buildings. Despite the achieved advances, automation systems have not been widely adopted by building occupants. This paper presents our investigations on automation preferences of occupants for the control of lighting systems and appliances in residential buildings. A survey was carried out to determine how preferences for level of automation vary by contexts as well as individuals’ personalities and demographic characteristics. The contexts investigated in this study include rescheduling an energy consuming activity, activity-based appliance state control, and lighting control. The collected data from 250 respondents were analyzed using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Our findings demonstrate that in all context no automation is the least preferred option. For rescheduling an energy consuming activity, an automation level with higher user participation is more preferred. For activity-based appliance state control and lighting control, levels of automation with lower user participation are more preferred. Our findings also indicate that income and education levels and also personality traits of agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience affect the preference of particular automation levels over the others. Findings from this study can be used in designing user-centered automation systems that lead to potentially more satisfying operation and hence, could enhance automation acceptability.