Abstract
Attempts to reduce the energy consumed in UK homes have had limited success. One reason for this has been identified as the ‘rebound effect’, where the occupants’ responses to their thermal environment change in unexpected ways after interventions. Although much of the research on heating patterns in dwellings has focused on achieving thermal comfort, less is understood about the way occupants form their responses. Using empirical methods drawn from social and cognitive sciences, this chapter proposes a set of tools, implemented in a pilot study, carried out on a small sample of UK households during winter of 2010. One of the tools used, the SenseCam facilitates an electronic diary collection by logging occupants’ responses in a systematic approach. Preliminary monitoring works show that different householders are interacting with their home thermal comfort systems in very different ways, and that their responses diverge from the current predictive models.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Thermal Environmentconditions for Human Occupancy, Standard 55, Atlanta (2004)
Bedford, T.: The warmth factor in comfort at work, MRC Industrial Health Board Report No. 76, HMSO (1936)
Berry, E., et al.: The use of SenseCam as a pictorial diary to improve autobiographical memory in a patient with limbic encephalitis. Neuro Psychological Rehabilitation (2007)
Brager, G., Fountain, M., Benton, C., Arens, E., Bauman, F.: A comparison of methods for assessing thermal sensation and acceptability in the field. In: Oseland, N., Humphreys, M. (eds.) Thermal Comfort: Past, Present and Future, BRE, Watford (1993)
Brager, G.S., De Dear, R.J.: Thermal adaptation in the built environment: a literature review. Energy and Buildings 27, 83–96 (1998)
BS EN ISO 7730:2005, Moderate Thermal Environments – Determination of the PMV and PPD Indices and Specification of the Conditions for Thermal Comfort. The British Standards Institution, BSI, London (2002)
BS EN ISO 10551:2001, Ergonomics of the thermal environment -Assessment of the influence of the thermal environment using subjective judgement scales. The British Standards Institution, BSI, London (2006)
Environmental Design Guide A. The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), London (2006)
Climate Change Act 2008 (c.27), London, UK (2008), http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk (accessed January 8th, 2011)
De Dear, R., Brager, G., Cooper, D.: Developing an Adaptive Model of Thermal Comfort and Preference. Final Report ASHRAE RP- 884 (1997), http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/staff/homepage/richard_de_dear/index.shtml (accessed January 8th, 2011)
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) The Government’s Standard Assessment, Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings, BRE, Watford (2009)
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Energy Consumption in the UK Domestic data tables 2010 Update, 10D/802, London, UK (2010) http://www.decc.gov.uk/ (accessed January 8th, 2011)
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) The Green Deal, A summary of the Government’s proposals, 10D/996, London, UK (2010)
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Survey of English Housing, 2007-2008, Colchester, Essex: UK, Data Archive, SN: 6399 (2010)
Fanger, P.O.: Thermal Comfort. Danish Technical Press, Copenhagen (1970)
Glaser, E.: The Physiological Basis of Habituation. O.U.P, London (1966)
Heijs, W., Stringer, P.: Research on residential thermal comfort: some contributions from environmental psychology. Journal of Environmental Psychology 8, 235–247 (1988)
Helson, H.: Current trends and issues in adaptation-level theory. American Psychologist 19(1) (1964)
Hong, S.H., Gilbertson, J., Oreszczyn, T., Green, G., Ridley, I.: A field study of thermal comfort in low-incomedwellings in England before and after energy efficient refurbishment. Building and Environment 44, 1228–1236 (2009)
Humphreys, M.A.: Field studies of thermal comfort compared and applied. Building Services Engineer 44(1) (1976)
Humphreys, M.A.: Field Studies and climate chamber experiments in thermal comfort research. In: Oseland, N., Humphreys, M. (eds.) Thermal Comfort: Past, Present and Future, BRE, UK (1994)
Lee, H., et al.: Constructing a SenseCam visual diary as a media process. Multimedia Systems Journal 14(6), 341–349 (2008)
Natinoal Building Specification (NBS) Approved Document L1A: Conservation of fuel and power, London, UK (2010)
Parsons, K.: Human Thermal Environments, 2nd edn. Taylor & Francis, London (2007)
Shipworth, M., et al.: Central heating thermostat settings and timing: building demographics. Building Research & Information 38, 50–69 (2010)
Smeaton, A., et al.: SenseCam Work at Dublin City University (presentation) Center For Digital Video Processing. Dublin City University, Ireland (2006), http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=104217 (accessed March 15th, 2011)
Summerfield, A.: Occupant Behaviour and Energy Use. In: Mumovic, D., Santamouris, M. (eds.) A Handbook of Sustainable Building Design and Engineering, Earthscan, London (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gauthier, S. (2012). Mapping Occupants Thermal Discomfort Responses in Households Using SenseCam. In: M’Sirdi, N., Namaane, A., Howlett, R.J., Jain, L.C. (eds) Sustainability in Energy and Buildings. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 12. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27509-8_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27509-8_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27508-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27509-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)