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In Situ Approaches to Studying Occupants

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Exploring Occupant Behavior in Buildings

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of in situ methods to study occupant behavior and presence. The aim of the chapter is to provide new and established researchers with a systematic approach to in situ occupant monitoring studies, while also providing illustrative examples to demonstrate the complexities and solutions for navigating this method. The chapter begins with a recommended systematic procedure for designing, conducting, and publishing in situ occupant studies. Following that, in situ-specific sensor technologies and sensing strategies are discussed in detail, with numerous real examples. This chapter devotes considerable discussion on nuances and practical issues that are frequently encountered during in situ studies, including: sensor placement, validation, access to studied spaces, monitoring spaces with multiple occupants, biases such as the Hawthorne effect, participant recruitment, and ethical considerations. Next, recommendations are provided for the level of documentation that should be provided when publishing in situ studies, with particular attention to the contextual factors that could influence the results. Finally, the use of surveys to complement in situ sensor-based methods is discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 3432 Mackenzie Building, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    William O’Brien, Sara Gilani & H. Burak Gunay

Authors
  1. William O’Brien
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  2. Sara Gilani
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  3. H. Burak Gunay
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Correspondence to William O’Brien .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Building Science Group, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Andreas Wagner

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    William O’Brien

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Bing Dong

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O’Brien, W., Gilani, S., Burak Gunay, H. (2018). In Situ Approaches to Studying Occupants. In: Wagner, A., O’Brien, W., Dong, B. (eds) Exploring Occupant Behavior in Buildings. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61464-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61464-9_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61463-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61464-9

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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