Occupants influence on the energy consumption of Danish domestic buildings - phase 1
The project is an international IEA - cooperation project. The project will embrace a problem which is often overseen when it comes to reduction of the energy need in buildings – and that is the end users. In the project the behavior and lifestyle of the users will be analyzed trough different kinds of low power tools, used in their homes. The project will stretch over a period of two phases, were the current project concerns faze one.
The purpose of the project is to analyse the influence of occupant behaviour and life style on different energy-saving measures for existing domestic buildings. At the same time it is investigated if - and to what extent - occupant behaviour may be influenced in a positive way to direct focus mainly towards the energy-saving measures and the corresponding impact. The project comprises the development of models for the prediction of occupants' influence and the assessment of different strategies for the reduction of total energy consumption of domestic buildings under the influence of occupant behaviour and life style. The project is carried out in two phases, of which the present project concerns Phase 1. Working program, Phase 1: 1. Participation in IEA Annex 53 'Total Energy Use in Buildings'; 2. State-of-the-art investigations; 3. Pilot projects and knowledge acquisition from previous and existing energy projects; 4. Development of a new interdisciplinary method for the analysis of the influence of occupant behaviour on the energy consumption; 5. Evaluation of how existing calculation models for domestic building energy consumption can be developed to include also occupant behaviour; 6. Dissemination of results (reporting and publication)
The use of energy in homes depends on the user behavior and lifestyle. Thus the user behavior has a significant influent to the energy use our knowledge in the field is limited. The project has been planning the first phase of a lager focus in the field “User influence on energy use in Danish homes” and thereby also made sure that there will be Danish participation in the IEA ECBCS Annex 53 “Total Energy use in Buildings”.
Investigation in both national and international literature shows that the energy use depends just as much on the user behavior as it does on the buildings and the efficiency of the appliances. The study also shows that the user practice is constantly changing as new technology is being developed and therefore it is most certainly relevant not only to focus on the energy efficiency, but also on the user and their use of new technology in connection with projecting and operation of low energy buildings.
Besides this, the measure results from a number of low energy projects has been analyzed, how does the user practice influent the energy use and indoor clime and which user related factors has the biggest influence. The results show more than one example of inappropriate user practice in archiving a good indoor clime and/or a low energy use. The introduction of new technology results in needs of regulation in the user practice, which the users in many cases are no aware or capable of doing because they do not understand the function of the technology or how it should be used to meet their needs.
Finally the project has been working on how the user practice can be involved in planning of a new building, i.e. Calculated into the planning of future energy use. The results of this work will be included in a rapport from IEA Annex 53. The result both describe different theoretical approaches for describing the user behavior and practice and furthermore methods for involvement of the user practice when calculating the expected energy use in a building. The rapport will show examples of typical user practice and how this can be guidelines for the choice of methods when creating a design process and which problems to focus on.
Key figures
Category
Participants
| Partner | Subsidy | Auto financing |
|---|---|---|
| Aalborg Universitet (Fredrik Bajers Vej) | 0,66 mio. DKK | 0,00 mio. DKK |
| Aalborg Universitet (Fredrik Bajers Vej) | 0,72 mio. DKK |
Contact
Aalborg Universitet. Institut for Byggeri og Anlæg
Sohngårdsholmsvej 57
DK-9000 Aalborg
www.civil.aau.dk
Brohus, Henrik , 99408539, hb@civil.aau.dk
Øvr. Partnere: Aalborg Universitet. Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut (SBi); Aalborg Universitet. Institut for Samfundsudvikling og Planlægning; Aalborg Universtet. Institut for Kommunikation
