The role of occupants in buildings’ energy performance gap: myth or reality?

The role of occupants in buildings’ energy performance gap: myth or reality?

Mahdavi, Ardeshir (Technische Universität Wien)
Ampatzi, Eleni (Cardiff University)
Andersen, Rune Korsholm (Khalifa University of Science and Technology)
Barthelmes, Verena M (École Polytechnique de Lausanne)
Favero, Matteo (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU))
Hahn, Jakob (Technische Universität München)
Knudsen, Henrik N (Aalborg University)
Luna-Navarro, Alessandra (TU Delft Design of Constrution)
Roetzel, Astrid (University of Cambridge)

2021

Buildings’ expected (projected, simulated) energy use frequently does not match actual observations. This is commonly referred to as the energy performance gap. As such, many factors can contribute to the disagreement between expectations and observations. These include, for instance, uncertainty about buildings’ geometry, construction, systems, and weather conditions. However, the role of occupants in the energy performance gap has recently attracted much attention. It has even been suggested that occupants are the main cause of the energy performance gap. This, in turn, has led to suggestions that better models of occupant behavior can reduce the energy performance gap. The present effort aims at the review and evaluation of the evidence for such claims. To this end, a systematic literature search was conducted and relevant publications were identified and reviewed in detail. The review entailed the categorization of the studies according to the scope and strength of the evidence for occupants’ role in the energy performance gap. Moreover, deployed calculation and monitoring methods, normalization procedures, and reported causes and magnitudes of the energy performance gap were documented and evaluated. The results suggest that the role of occupants as significant or exclusive contributors to the energy performance gap is not sufficiently substantiated by evidence.

buildings
performance gap
energy
occupant behavior

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f4f9eabe-1bf3-43e2-a48f-80a75eaf0f9b

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063146

2071-1050

Sustainability, 13 (6)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Ardeshir Mahdavi, Eleni Ampatzi, Rune Korsholm Andersen, Verena M Barthelmes, Matteo Favero, Jakob Hahn, Henrik N Knudsen, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Astrid Roetzel, More Authors