Architects’ use of tools for low energy building design: Methodological reflections from ethnography and philosophy of technology

Design practitioners face an increased pressure to design low energy buildings because of the need to reduce the carbon emissions of the built environment. As a response, building performance simulation tools (BPS) have been created for designers to facilitate the decision-making and help them to propose low energy buildings. This paper is based on a research that adopted ethnographic research to conduct a case study comparison and explore how BPS tools were deployed by designers during real-time design process. The research adopted a constructivist approach informed by philosophy of technology and human computer interaction theories to reveal what designers were doing during the design process as opposed to what they should be doing according to best practice advice. This paper focuses on the application of ethnographic methods and brings attention to the advantages, challenges and limitations of adopting ethnographic research to investigate the `context of use of tools'. The discussion of the method brings attention to the context of use of tools as the departure point to develop a range of solutions for design support

Smart people in stupid homes: the skill in creating preferred thermal environments

A popular strategy in reducing energy consumption in dwellings has been to remove ‘the user’ from the operation of the building and its systems as far as possible. Occupants and their ‘inconvenient’ behaviour are seen as uncertainties to be set outside the loop. Research conducted by the authors suggests this may not be the most effective strategy for two main reasons. First, many people demonstrate a sensitivity to their thermal environments, a clear understanding of what they want from them, and the ability to operate their homes to achieve those conditions. Second, when users are thwarted in their attempts to create desired thermal experiences there is a risk they will bypass controls and constraints – for example, by using portable electric heaters – resulting in significantly greater energy consumption than expected. This paper suggests that some occupants have a deeper understanding of how their homes work thermally than is usually acknowledged in top-down imposed energy interventions that limit the occupants’ control of their home environment. The authors will argue that users’ intuitive understanding often exceeds the capabilities of automated or ‘black box’ heating control systems by embracing control mechanisms, such as windows and doors, that are not normally considered part of the whole environmental control system. The paper draws on the results of a project jointly funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Électricité de France under the People Energy and Buildings initiative: Conditioning Demand: Older People, Diversity and Thermal Experience. This project studied householders’ attitudes to the introduction of low carbon technologies for heating. Their responses show a sophisticated understanding of the thermal environment and suggest there is a need to investigate people’s understanding of how buildings work and the skills they acquire in getting the best from their homes to provide the thermal conditions they want. The paper explores the division of agency between people, building designs and systems in creating desired thermal environments. It positions occupants as the primary intelligence in operating homes and their energy systems and calls for greater recognition of the role of end-users in the efficient and effective operation of thermal systems in the home. The paper argues that by exploiting people’s intuitive understanding of how buildings work will inform effective low carbon strategies to reduce household energy consumption

Carbon dioxide concentration levels and thermal comfort in primary school classrooms: what pupils and teachers do

The current climate emergency concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic demand urgent action to maintain healthy indoor environments in energy efficient ways. Promoting good indoor environments, in particular, increasing ventilation levels, has been a prominent strategy to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission indoors. However, this strategy could be detrimental to thermal comfort, particularly during the heating season in buildings located in temperate climate zones. This paper presents research conducted in two primary schools in South Wales (UK) where the temperature, relative humidity and the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration levels were monitored. The study monitored six classrooms and two communal spaces in the two schools during the academic year 2021/2022, the first academic year back to teaching and learning in school buildings after home-schooling and educational disruptions due to COVID-19 lockdowns. The study investigated the actions taken by teachers and pupils to balance the thermal comfort needs while minimising CO2 concentration levels. We conducted user studies to explore the comfort perceptions by pupils and teachers in relation to the thermal conditions and the freshness of air in the monitored classrooms. The paper identifies opportunities where end-users, teachers and pupils engaged with the management of the indoor environmental conditions and adopted actions to balance the requirement of reducing CO2 concentration levels while promoting thermal comfort. This research offers lessons and insights related to end-users’ agency and their understanding of indoor environments and thermal experience in schools

Low carbon non-domestic building design process.

Purpose – The UK aims to reduce the carbon emissions in the building sector so as to achieve nearly zero-carbon new buildings by 2020. In 2010, a 25 per cent reduction of carbon emissions was mandated in England and Wales. The aim of this paper is to reveal how the design teams were coping with the energy regulation changes in 2010 in England and Wales. Design/methodology/approach – An ethnographic methodology was selected to investigate in-depth the real-time design process in four architecture practices. The study was analysed in detail and compared the design process of six non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. The data collection methods included interviews, non-participant observation and document analysis and were conducted for a period of 12-21 months per case study. Findings – The field findings suggest the disconnections between the project driver and the policy agenda and reveal what the design teams do to embed energy performance in routine project design. Research limitations/implications – Due to the in-depth nature of the data, no claims for generalisation or representativeness are made. However, the detailed analysis of the real-time design process reveals the designers’ enactment of the policy agenda, which is in essence a timeless phenomenon about policy intervention and performance-based regulations. Originality/value – The designers’ enactment of and responses to the policy changes become an analytical tool to infer lessons that can be learned from the process and lead to the achievement of expected carbon reductions and the success of the policy intentions

Designers' enactment of the policy intentions. An ethnographic study of the adoption of energy regulations in England and Wales

The United Kingdom is aspiring to reduce the carbon emissions in the building sector, aiming to achieve nearly zero carbon buildings by 2020. The policy models in England and Wales rely on three strands: regulations; financial incentives and educational schemes. A growing body of literature suggests that the building industry is facing several barriers that hinder the delivery of the expected carbon targets outlined at policy level. This research explores the enactment of the policy aspirations by building designers using a bottom-up approach. An ethnographic study was conducted to analyse the design process of six non-domestic buildings. The work identified the designers׳ responses to adopt the policy agenda in routine design and overcome the challenges that emerged during the design process. The understanding of the designers׳ responses could inform the policy model and suggest areas that need attention for the timely delivery of the expected carbon reductions

Users in context: actions and practices in low energy buildings

One of the key challenges of the building industry is to achieve the expected performance in buildings in-use. The literature shows significant gaps between the as-designed and in-use building performance. There is a pervasive assumption among design practitioners and facilities managers that the occupants and their actions in buildings are a primary source of these ‘performance gaps’. This paper contests two misleading notions that underlie that assumption: 1) the view that the user is a ‘passive agent’ in the built environment; and, 2) the view that there is a ‘typical’ user that can be applied universally. This paper presents a study that investigated the occupants’ actions in four BREEAM certified buildings, comparing their as-designed and in-use performance. The study applied post occupancy evaluation techniques and user studies to investigate occupants’ practices to provide explanatory detail to monitored environmental and energy consumption data. The paper focuses on occupants’ actions and facilities management practices enacted in the everyday operation of buildings: what users do to achieve comfort, which include reconfiguration within spaces, adaptation through clothing, and operating building technologies; and, the facilities management strategies to operate the building. All of these take place against a background of institutional policies and norms. The observed actions and reported practices bring challenges to the typical representation of users and facilities management practices embedded in as-designed models of building performance. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the context of building use considering different stakeholders’ perspectives is deemed valuable to inform effective design strategies for building performance as well as to develop interventions to reduce the energy consumption of existing buildings

Learning from design reviews in low energy buildings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the usability of design reviews to inform designers about low carbon technologies and building performance. The design review of three domestic and two non-domestic case studies are evaluated. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection and analysis methods include interviews and meetings with design teams and contractors, design tools audit and revision of drawings and project documentation. In addition, building's envelope and systems, and in-use performance evaluations are used to inform design teams about the actual performance of the buildings. Findings – This study showed that targets and intentions defined in the design process are not always compatible or reality checked. These contradictions between targets within a project can undermine the performance of a building. The design review can identify unrealistic expectations to assess fairly the performance of buildings. The study showed that changes made during construction to the original design are related to lack of specifications or experience with low carbon technologies. Design reviews can help designers to identify the knowledge gaps within their practice. Furthermore, the results showed that building-related energy consumption was close to expectations, while user-related consumption was higher than expected due to occupancy assumptions made during the design. The design review showed that designers require more knowledge about buildings’ in-use performance in order to take informed-based design decisions. Originality/value – This paper showed the main stages of a design review, and their usability to assess building performance and to inform designers. The results of this study suggest that designs can benefit from design reviews by learning about low carbon technologies installation and building's operation