Comfort driven adaptive window opening behaviour and the influence of building design

It is important to understand and model the behaviour of occupants in buildings and how this behaviour impacts energy use and comfort. It is similarly important to understand how a buildings design affects occupant comfort, occupant behaviour and ultimately the energy used in the operation of the building. In this work a behavioural algorithm for window opening developed from field survey data has been implemented in a dynamic simulation tool. The algorithm is in alignment with the proposed CEN standard for adaptive thermal comfort. The algorithm is first compared to the field study data then used to illustrate the impact of adaptive behaviour on summer indoor temperatures and heating energy. The simulation model is also used to illustrate the sensitivity of the occupant adaptive behaviour to building design parameters such as solar shading and thermal mass and the resulting impact on energy use and comfort. The results are compared to those from other approaches to model window opening behaviour. The adaptive algorithm is shown to provide insights not available using non adaptive simulation methods and can assist in achieving more comfortable and lower energy buildings

Exploring adaptation & self-adaptation in autonomic computing systems

This panel paper sets out to discuss what self-adaptation means, and to explore the extent to which current autonomic systems exhibit truly self-adaptive behaviour. Many of the currently cited examples are clearly adaptive, but debate remains as to what extent they are simply following prescribed adaptation rules within preset bounds, and to what extent they have the ability to truly learn new behaviour. Is there a standard test that can be applied to differentiate? Is adaptive behaviour sufficient anyway? Other autonomic computing issues are also discussed

Learning the optimal buffer-stock consumption rule of Carroll

This article questions the rather pessimistic conclusions of Allen et Carroll (2001) about the ability of consumer to learn the optimal buffer-stock based consumption rule. To this aim, we develop an agent based model where alternative learning schemes can be compared in terms of the consumption behaviour that they yield. We show that neither purely adaptive learning, nor social learning based on imitation can ensure satisfactory consumption behaviours. By contrast, if the agents can form adaptive expectations, based on an evolving individual mental model, their behaviour becomes much more interesting in terms of its regularity, and its ability to improve performance (which is as a clear manifestation of learning). Our results indicate that assumptions on bounded rationality, and on adaptive expectations are perfectly compatible with sound and realistic economic behaviour, which, in some cases, can even converge to the optimal solution. This framework may therefore be used to develop macroeconomic models with adaptive dynamics.Consumption decisions; Learning; Expectations; Adaptive behaviour; Computational economics

Occupant behaviour in naturally ventilated and hybrid buildings

Adaptive thermal comfort criteria for building occupants are now becoming established. In this paper we illustrate their use in the prediction of occupant behaviour and make a comparison with a non-adaptive temperature threshold approach. A thermal comfort driven adaptive behavioural model for window opening is described and its use within dynamic simulation illustrated for a number of building types. Further development of the adaptive behavioural model is suggested including use of windows, doors, ceiling fans, night cooling, air conditioning and heating, also the setting of opportunities and constraints appropriate to a particular situation. The integration in dynamic simulation of the thermal adaptive behaviours together with non-thermally driven behaviours such as occupancy, lights and blind use is proposed in order to create a more complete model of occupant behaviour. It is further proposed that this behavioural model is implemented in a methodology that includes other uncertainties (e.g. in internal gains) so that a realistic range of occupant behaviours is represented at the design stage to assist in the design of robust, comfortable and low energy buildings

Chaotic Behaviour in Some Discrete –Time Adaptive Control Systems

It has been shown that nonlinear discrete maps can display extremely rich behaviour and under certain parameter conditions to show chaotic phenomenon. This work looks at adaptive control feedback systems which can be represented as nonlinear discrete maps and shows how model mismatch can lead to undesired complicated and chaotic behaviour. Moreover that a discrete-time adaptive control system which can display chaotic behaviour can be extended into higher order systems and the results show that under certain parameter conditions, the higher order systems also behave chaotically. A generalised equation form for the eigenvalues is also given

Developing a valid method to study adaptive behaviours with regard to IEQ in primary schools

Adaptive behaviour impacts the classroom's environment and the student's comfort. Therefore, a deep understanding of students' adaptive behaviour is required. This study aims to develop a valid and reliable method to realize how children in their late middle childhood (9–11) practise adaptive behaviours as a response to the classroom's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). A self-reported questionnaire accompanied with an observation form is designed based on children's ‘here and now’ sensations, their cognitive and linguistic competence. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested by running pilot and field studies in eight primary schools from July 2017 to May 2018. Through transverse sampling, 805 children were observed, and 1390 questionnaires were collected in 31 classrooms. Questions and responses of the designed questionnaire were validated by monitoring answer-process, non-participant observations, cross-checking questions and statistical tests. Validating process improved the wording of the questions and response categories and resulted in a questionnaire with a high and valid response rate. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested by measuring the variability and standard deviations of responses under similar conditions. To conclude, the study introduces a questionnaire and an observation form that should be used together to provide a valid and reliable method for studying adaptive behaviour of primary school children

Driver behaviour with adaptive cruise control

This paper reports on the evaluation of adaptive cruise control (ACC) from a psychological perspective. It was anticipated that ACC would have an effect upon the psychology of driving, i.e. make the driver feel like they have less control, reduce the level of trust in the vehicle, make drivers less situationally aware, but workload might be reduced and driving might be less stressful. Drivers were asked to drive in a driving simulator under manual and ACC conditions. Analysis of variance techniques were used to determine the effects of workload (i.e. amount of traffic) and feedback (i.e. degree of information from the ACC system) on the psychological variables measured (i.e. locus of control, trust, workload, stress, mental models and situation awareness). The results showed that: locus of control and trust were unaffected by ACC, whereas situation awareness, workload and stress were reduced by ACC. Ways of improving situation awareness could include cues to help the driver predict vehicle trajectory and identify conflicts

A window opening algorithm and UK office temperature field results and thermal simulation

This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings investigates 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows, 2) the cooling potential of opening windows, and 3) the use of an “adaptive algorithm” for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. We found that the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures when the window was open were higher than when it was closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window. The adaptive algorithm for window opening behaviour was then used in thermal simulation studies for some typical office designs. The thermal simulation results were in general agreement with the findings of the field surveys