Occupancy and occupants’ actions

Occupants’ presence and actions within the built environment are crucial aspects related to understanding variations in energy use. Within this chapter, first, a nomenclature for the field of research dealing with occupants in buildings is defined. This nomenclature distinguishes between occupants’ presence and behavior, states and actions, adaptive triggers, non-adaptive triggers, and contextual factors. Second, an extensive list of occupant behaviors is provided and categorizations of occupants’ actions are introduced. The list includes most of the possible phenomena that researchers may wish to study, measure, and ultimately model. The categories are physiological, individual, environmental, and spatial adjustments. Third, a list of adaptive and non-adaptive triggers together with contextual factors that could influence occupant behavior is presented. Individual elements are further grouped into physical environmental, physiological, psychological, and social aspects. Finally, a comprehe

Standards on Thermal Comfort

International standards give criteria for thermal comfort based on the evaluation of room temperatures and their deviation from the comfort temperature. The static approach to thermal comfort is derived from the physics of heat transfer and combined with an empirical fit to sensation. It defines constant comfort temperatures for the summer and winter period considering different clothing. The adaptive comfort model considers the thermal sensation of the occupants and different actions in order to adapt to the thermal environment as well as variable expectations with respect to outdoor and indoor climate. The comfort temperature is dependent on the outdoor temperature. Though standards clearly define the static approach as general criterion and the adaptive approach as optional approach for naturally ventilated buildings only, the application in buildings with lowenergy cooling and strong users’ impact on the indoor environment is critically reviewed