Human-Centred Smart Buildings: Reframing Smartness Through the Lens of Human-Building Interaction

PhD ThesisSmart buildings backed by data and algorithms promise reduced energy use and increased value for businesses and occupants. Yet, this has typically been considered from an engineering and systems perspective. Given increasing integration of sensing and ubiquitous computing technologies in modern built environments, a growing HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Building Interaction (HBI) community has begun to advocate for the human-centred design of building technologies. This dissertation argues that there is a need for an inclusive, socially just and sustainable HBI agenda, to enable smarter buildings and facilities management. Deconstructing ‘smart’ rhetoric within HCI/HBI discourse and highlighting the values and ethics underpinning it, I argue that existing approaches to ‘smartness’ privilege automation and efficiency over the needs of human occupants. I undertake a qualitative inquiry into the roles of data and digital technologies in human-centred smart buildings through three case studies: i) How retrofitted environment sensors facilitate smarter energy auditing practices. I contribute a methodology for using sensor toolkits in auditing, technical design of the BuildAX sensing platform, and insights into sensoraugmented audits and how future standards might support these. ii) How data and digital technologies foster collective experiences of thermal comfort for office workers. I contribute a data elicitation interview method, design of the ThermoKiosk experience survey system, and considerations for integrating office tensions into workplace comfort management. iii) How HBI can support agency and participation in the everyday management and adaptation of a contemporary smart building. I contribute a ‘building walks’ method to elicit conversations on the future of building technologies, new understandings of how student occupants conceptualise and evaluate spaces, and how buildings of the future might better enable occupant agency. Through these, I contribute a re-framing of smartness to be more human-centred, including concerns for collaboration, inclusion, and human decision-making which does not consider occupants a ‘problem’ to be solved. The results of the case studies are synthesised into a set of six principles for the design of technology within human-centred smart buildings, re-grounding the field of HBI in the philosophy of environmental and social justice

"I'd want to burn the data or at least nobble the numbers": Towards data-mediated building management for comfort and energy use

In this paper, we explore the role of pervasive environmental sensor data in workplace building management. Current interactions between management and workplace occupants are limited by the gap between experiences of (dis)comfort (i.e. individual preferences and perceptions) and the rigid objectivity of organisational policies and procedures such as static setpoint temperatures for indoor spaces. Our hypothesis is that pervasive sensor data that captures the indoor climate can provide an effective platform from which to more successfully communicate about comfort and energy use. Through a qualitative study with building managers and occupants, we show that while data does not necessarily resolve these tensions, it provides an engaging forum for a more inclusive building management process, and we outline directions for taking a more conversational approach in the design of comfort and energy-use interventions for the workplace

“No powers, man!”: A student perspective on designing university smart building interactions

Smart buildings offer an opportunity for better performance and enhanced experience by contextualising services and interactions to the needs and practices of occupants. Yet, this vision is limited by established approaches to building management, delivered top-down through professional facilities management teams, opening up an interaction-gap between occupants and the spaces they inhabit. To address the challenge of how smart buildings might be more inclusively managed, we present the results of a qualitative study with student occupants of a smart building, with design workshops including building walks and speculative futuring. We develop new understandings of how student occupants conceptualise and evaluate spaces as they experience them, and of how building management practices might evolve with new sociotechnical systems that better leverage occupant agency. Our findings point to important directions for HCI research in this nascent area, including the need for HBI (Human-Building Interaction) design to challenge entrenched roles in building management

#CHIversity: Implications for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Campaigns

In this alt.chi paper, we reflect on #CHIversity a grassroots campaign highlighting feminist issues related to diversity and inclusion at CHI2017, and in HCI more widely. #CHIversity was operationalised through a number of activities including: collaborative cross-stitch and 'zine' making events; the development of a 'Feminist CHI Programme'; and the use of a Twitter hashtag #CHIversity. These events granted insight into how diversity discourses are approached within the CHI community. From these recognitions we provide examples of how diversity and inclusion can be promoted at future SIGCHI events. These include fostering connections between attendees, discussing 'polarizing' research in a conservative political climate, and encouraging contributions to the growing body of HCI literature addressing feminisms and related subjects. Finally, we suggest how these approaches and benefits can translate to HCI events extending beyond CHI, where exclusion may routinely go undetected

Promoting dietary changes for achieving health and sustainability targets

Globally, about 21–37% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to food systems. Dietary-related non-communicable diseases have increased significantly from 1990–2019 at a global scale. To achieve carbon emissions targets, increase resilience, and improve health there is a need to increase the sustainability of agricultural practises and change dietary habits. By considering these challenges together and focusing on a closer connection between consumers and sustainable production, we can benefit from a positive interaction between them. Using the 2019 EAT Lancet Commission dietary guidelines, this study analysed interview data and food diaries collected from members of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) schemes and the wider UK population. By comparing the environmental sustainability and nutritional quality of their respective diets, we found that CSA members consumed diets closer to the EAT Lancet recommendations than controls. We identified significant differences in daily intakes of meat; dairy; vegetables; legumes; and sugar, and the diets of CSA members emitted on average 28% less CO2 compared to controls. We propose that agricultural and wider social and economic policies that increase the accessibility of CSAs for a more diverse demographic could support achieving health, biodiversity, and zero-emission policy targets

Multiorgan MRI findings after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in the UK (C-MORE): a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction: The multiorgan impact of moderate to severe coronavirus infections in the post-acute phase is still poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities after hospitalisation with COVID-19, evaluate their determinants, and explore associations with patient-related outcome measures. Methods: In a prospective, UK-wide, multicentre MRI follow-up study (C-MORE), adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital following COVID-19 who were included in Tier 2 of the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) and contemporary controls with no evidence of previous COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody negative) underwent multiorgan MRI (lungs, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys) with quantitative and qualitative assessment of images and clinical adjudication when relevant. Individuals with end-stage renal failure or contraindications to MRI were excluded. Participants also underwent detailed recording of symptoms, and physiological and biochemical tests. The primary outcome was the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities (two or more organs) relative to controls, with further adjustments for potential confounders. The C-MORE study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04510025. Findings: Of 2710 participants in Tier 2 of PHOSP-COVID, 531 were recruited across 13 UK-wide C-MORE sites. After exclusions, 259 C-MORE patients (mean age 57 years [SD 12]; 158 [61%] male and 101 [39%] female) who were discharged from hospital with PCR-confirmed or clinically diagnosed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Nov 1, 2021, and 52 non-COVID-19 controls from the community (mean age 49 years [SD 14]; 30 [58%] male and 22 [42%] female) were included in the analysis. Patients were assessed at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 4·2–6·3) after hospital discharge. Compared with non-COVID-19 controls, patients were older, living with more obesity, and had more comorbidities. Multiorgan abnormalities on MRI were more frequent in patients than in controls (157 [61%] of 259 vs 14 [27%] of 52; p<0·0001) and independently associated with COVID-19 status (odds ratio [OR] 2·9 [95% CI 1·5–5·8]; padjusted=0·0023) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Compared with controls, patients were more likely to have MRI evidence of lung abnormalities (p=0·0001; parenchymal abnormalities), brain abnormalities (p<0·0001; more white matter hyperintensities and regional brain volume reduction), and kidney abnormalities (p=0·014; lower medullary T1 and loss of corticomedullary differentiation), whereas cardiac and liver MRI abnormalities were similar between patients and controls. Patients with multiorgan abnormalities were older (difference in mean age 7 years [95% CI 4–10]; mean age of 59·8 years [SD 11·7] with multiorgan abnormalities vs mean age of 52·8 years [11·9] without multiorgan abnormalities; p<0·0001), more likely to have three or more comorbidities (OR 2·47 [1·32–4·82]; padjusted=0·0059), and more likely to have a more severe acute infection (acute CRP >5mg/L, OR 3·55 [1·23–11·88]; padjusted=0·025) than those without multiorgan abnormalities. Presence of lung MRI abnormalities was associated with a two-fold higher risk of chest tightness, and multiorgan MRI abnormalities were associated with severe and very severe persistent physical and mental health impairment (PHOSP-COVID symptom clusters) after hospitalisation. Interpretation: After hospitalisation for COVID-19, people are at risk of multiorgan abnormalities in the medium term. Our findings emphasise the need for proactive multidisciplinary care pathways, with the potential for imaging to guide surveillance frequency and therapeutic stratification

"What are your thoughts on this place?": A Living-Lab Approach to Building Engagement and Evaluation

Building occupants have little agency in changing the spaces they work and live in, but workspaces are dynamic and heterogeneous, servicing a set of occupant needs which evolve over time. Prior work [6] has positioned access to building data as being useful in negotiating comfort issues, but we are interested in a) the new ways data can be appropriated by building occupants in co-creating the spaces they use daily, and b) how managerial evaluation of buildings might take into account the needs of occupants. This workshop paper presents the design concept for a technology probe, SpaceBot, which provides an interface through which changes can be suggested by occupants, discussed, and implemented by building management. Tweeting smart-buildings represent a potential new mode for Human-Building Interaction, and living lab environments which prioritise the "living" element

SpaceBot: Towards Participatory Evaluation of Smart Buildings

Smart buildings generate a wealth of data about the spaces they contain. Yet, in evaluating them against occupant needs, sensor data alone is insufficient. Our contribution lies in a re-framing of smart building spaces around the human factor, and a critical lens on the criteria used to evaluate buildings. We propose future work on participatory technologies to evaluate complex and heterogeneous built environments with the people who live and work in them, recognising that their expertise is invaluable in creating quality spaces and ensuring their ongoing and sustainable use

Augmenting Audits: Exploring the Role of Sensor Toolkits in Sustainable Buildings Management

Audits are commonly carried out by facilities managers (FMs) to quantify the sustainability and performance of the buildings they manage, informing improvements to infrastructure for resource and cost savings, and assessing compliance with standards and legislation. The scope for what can be audited is limited by available infrastructure. In this article, we investigate the utility of a flexible sensor toolkit to enhance existing energy auditing practices. We present findings from a qualitative study with FM and student auditor participants from 3 organisations. Our study covers how these toolkits were used and integrated into auditing practices within these organisations, and the opportunities and issues for resource management that arose as a result. We conclude with design implications for toolkits to support sensor-augmented audits, make recommendations towards a deployment protocol for sensor toolkits used in this context, and develop broader considerations for how future standards and policies might be adapted to leverage this potential