This paper innovates in the relationship between sustainable technology suppliers and users, using the example of heat pumps. Heat pumps are necessary for energy transitions in Europe. However, in everyday life in households, heat pumps are often not used as the technology developers intended. This discrepancy presents a challenge for heat pump supply-side actors such as manufacturers and resellers. This paper first presents a design perspective on user improvisation and highlights its value for innovation. We synthesized the perspective in a sensitizing video. We then employed this video to engage with nine supply-side professionals in the Dutch heat pump value network and conducted semi-structured interviews with them to understand their responses to improvisation. We categorized their responses and identified the factors influencing the choice of response. We identify ten different responses and nine motivating factors. We then interpret the responses in the light of our design perspective on user improvisation to highlight areas for socio-technical innovation in the relationship between the heat pump supply and use sides. This innovation can support heat pump uptake and satisfaction and thus improve the quality and rate of renovations.

This research intended to understand the effect of renovation solutions on occupants’ behaviour, and the effects of the behaviour on the indoor environmental quality of the buildings. The investigation is based on the findings from a short, in-depth monitoring campaign in four apartments in the Netherlands. The results showed that the households studied have different preferences for comfort, as well as ways to interact with the building. The small range of options provided by the systems created some level of dissatisfaction in three out of the four households studied regarding temperature (control), air quality, or noise produced by mechanical ventilation system. The monitoring results confirmed that the apartments were within a good range of thermal comfort, however the residents complained about lack of control over the indoor environment. Furthermore, high CO₂ levels were found in three of the four apartments, especially at night. In these homes, the residents kept the ventilation setting on the lowest due to the noise produced by it, or due to lack of knowledge on the functioning of the system. In addition to the lack of control and lack of knowledge, the residents reported a lack of feedback from the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems to know whether they are working correctly. These results emphasize the need of user-centric design, and the need for people to be able to control their environment. Systems design should consider the actual needs and preferences of the occupants, while interfaces should be designed to provide timely and accurate feedback to the user.

Domestic heating systems need to change to meet climate targets. We draw on practice theoretical concepts to understand what is needed to integrate heat pumps in Dutch households. From a design orientation, we view households as creative actors integrating technologies into daily life. We report on an ethnographic study of the disruptions and resulting reconfigurations that occur when heat pumps are introduced in Dutch households. Our findings reveal a variety of practice reconfigurations around heat pumps. We also find that these reconfigurations are related to and may influence other practices, including professional practices. We discuss our findings in relation to policy, technology development, and design, and conclude that the required reconfigurations in Dutch household practices could be supported, and that innovative practice reconfigurations emerging from internal household dynamics could contribute to sustainability transitions.

This paper addresses designing for accessibility of renovated housing. The investigated case evaluates interfaces of heating and ventilation systems in a demonstration apartment for an intended renovation of high-rise social housing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We selected a focus on people who are blind or have low vision (PBLV). We conducted two qualitative studies with different target groups, (expert) users and building domain experts, to answer two research questions: First, what are the accessibility limitations of the currently installed HVAC systems in social housing, using the example of the demo apartment? Second, in what way can we enable stakeholders aiming to commission a renovation to make decisions that improve accessibility? We argue based on interviews and remote observations that PBLV face many issues. For example, home control interfaces commonly lack features such as a voice control option or tactile buttons, making them inaccessible for this group and less accessible for everyone else. To tackle this challenge, we propose a guidebook supporting decision-makers in assessing and implementing accessibility in renovation projects of social housing. The final evaluation confirmed that such an intervention fills a gap for human-centred tools in zero-energy renovations.

In this paper, we develop a comprehensive behaviour model for residential buildings that considers the diversity among households. While existing behavioural theories from social and psychological sciences have been used in building research, they often lack technical detail, contextual aspects, and focus primarily on behavioural change. The authors propose an interdisciplinary theoretical model that integrates insights from behavioural science and engineering dimensions. This model aims to link measurable drivers directly to energy outcomes, consider building-related contexts, and reflect the complexity of high-performance buildings. The research consisted of the quantitative analysis of building monitoring data and the analysis of interviews using thematic analysis. The mix-methods approach allowed to obtain new insights into the relationship between the aspects that affect occupants' behaviour. An interdisciplinary model is developed based on the results from the analysis, existing theoretical models used in building research, and previous studies on occupants' behaviour. The model is intended to support the identification of occupants' behaviour drivers, inform user-centric and energy-efficient building design, enhance decision-making for building monitoring and simulations, and aid in various practical applications such as performance assessment and energy contracting.

By 2027 more than 530 M homes will likely adopt at least one type of automated system. This means that a growing number of residents will be living with automated technology in the home, everyday. But living with smart homes is full of conflicts between what residents find appropriate and what technology does instead. Previous research, centering end-user needs, has often focused on smooth living experiences through graphical user interfaces and improved predictions. In this research, we take the more-than-human lens of co-performance to put crises in everyday practices in view, and to conceptualize a new notion of interface. Based on ethnographic data from 11 households, our findings illustrate how crises reveal conflicting ideas of appropriateness, how residents reconfigure their co-performances with technology in response to everyday crises, and how new interfaces are enacted as a result. We conclude by illuminating how researchers and designers should not look at the conflicts and crises emerging in the more-than-human home as something of which to get rid. Instead, they are opportunities for residents and buildings to respond to one another in the context of everyday life and to enact interfaces that were not pre-designed into the building.

Automated and connected technologies are increasingly present in everyday life. The concept of co-performance offers a new perspective on artificial agency by understanding artifacts as capable of performing everyday practices next to people. In this pictorial we adopt a lens informed by co-performance, and propose the visual vocabulary of the screenplay as a novel way to represent and annotate co-performances. We highlight conflicts and how they are they are resolved through the enactment of new interfaces in-use. We visually represent and annotate scenes found in data from a study of households living with smart technologies. Using this visual vocabulary reveals the role of time, embodiment, character development and more, in the enactment of interfaces.

As the goal-setting in the European Green Deal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, great efforts have been put to improve the energy efficiency in residential buildings. As residential buildings are towards high energy efficiency, building envelopes are becoming better thermally insulated and systems are becoming more energy-efficient. Therefore, the role of occupants in the actual building performance is becoming more important. However, contradictions exist between the uncertainties caused by occupant behaviour (OB) and the over-simplified consideration of OB in building design. Therefore, this paper aims to present a state-of-the-art of how OB is represented in residential buildings. Through a literature study, this paper first reviews different occupant behaviours and how they are considered in the design and operation of high-performance residential buildings. Modelling methods are categorized by occupant activities. In addition, behavioural theories in the application of analysing building performance are reviewed. How the behavioural theories are integrated with state-of-the-art building technologies is outlined. Finally, challenges and suggestions for representing the interaction between occupants and buildings in the design and operation of residential buildings are discussed.

Accounting for almost 40% of energy consumption in the European Union, the role of the existing building stock is instrumental in the energy transition and the goals for carbon neutrality of the built environment. An effective renovation plan must significantly improve the current energy performance towards a nearly zero-energy level. Nevertheless, renovation that addresses the energy performance of buildings is at a rate as low as 1%, with deep renovation being at 0.2%. The low rate can be attributed to the higher complexity and costs incurred due to the high number of retrofitted components and the integration of renewable energy sources, the many actors involved and barriers such as split incentives and availability of funds. This paper discusses the process that led to a zero-energy renovation of a previously outdated post-war, midrise, tenement apartment building. This process included design, execution of the technical measures, energy contracting and monitoring. The aspects considered during this project focus on the technical solution, including the building envelope and services upgrade and the performance guarantee that made the project a successful business case. The results showed that the renovated building is zero-energy and the energy production overcompensate for the energy demand. The steps that were taken ensured a renovation concept development towards upscalability. Lessons learned during this project have enabled the involved stakeholder to extend the renovation concept to address various buildings types and performance goals.

Dwellings and systems are becoming ever more complex. In achieving high energy performances, the interaction among user, building and systems plays an increasingly crucial role. We studied this interaction in 16 recently renovated low-energy dwellings, to advance the field in terms of methods, and to derive pointers for improved renovation concepts. We used sensors to monitor the indoor environment. And we further developed a method that uses questionnaires, diaries and a so-called 'walk through the house' interview technique to gain insights into occupant behaviour and the reasons for the occupants' behaviours. The results show that the observed behaviour was almost always a normal response to the situation, but often not the behaviour that was expected when designing the renovation concept. A major reason for this was the occupants' efforts to reduce discomfort, which was often the result of the renovation solution itself (for example draught, noise or a warm bedroom). So, we found that behaviour was often a quite normal reaction to the renovation solution. We conclude that the resulting underperformances of renovation concepts are caused by technology centred design. We posit that this can be improved by testing renovation concepts in real world situations.

Renovation projects in social housing tend to focus on diminishing the costs of the renovation. An affordable solution is sought for an average household, thus assumptions are made about the residents' behaviour when calculating the energy performance of the dwellings. However, households have different needs and preferences, and therefore the actual use of the building can affect the achievement of the zero energy goals. In the Netherlands, until 2020, the calculation of the energy performance coefficient (EPC) was necessary to obtain building permission. The EPC was calculated based on standardised occupancy, and took into account the characteristics of the building envelope and installations. Furthermore, the EPV (energieprestatievergoeding, energy performance compensation in English) is an instrument used by housing associations and landlords to recover part of their investments in renovating social housing into (nearly) zero energy homes through a regulated increase in the rent, while protecting the residents from increase on their costs of living. In this research, we used a monitoring case study in the Netherlands to investigate the effect of assumptions made during design regarding occupants' behaviour, preferences, needs and lifestyle on achieving energy neutrality goals. The following questions are answered: What assumptions where made during the design of the building, and how do they differ from actual behaviour?, and what are the consequences of the behaviour for the performance of the building and for the EPV? The objective of this research is to determine the importance of design assumptions in the design and evaluation of zero energy buildings.

The scaling up of zero energy (ZE) renovations contributes to the energy transition. Yet ZE renovations can be complex and error-prone in both process and outcome. This article draws on theory from sociotechnical design, participatory design, and inclusive design to analyse four recent case studies of ZE renovation/building in the Netherlands. The cases are studied using a mix of retrospective interviews and workshops, as well as ethnographic research. Three of the cases studied are ZE renovations of which two are recently completed and one is in progress, while the fourth case is a recently completed ZE new build. Three of the cases are social housing and one is mixed ownership. The research enquired into the situation of the project managers conducting the processes and also drew on resident experiences. The ZE renovation/builds are analysed as sociotechnical product-service systems (PSSs). The article evaluates how the use values, product values, and result values of these PSSs emerged from the processes. This perspective reveals issues with the usability of the PSSs, as well as with cost structures, technical tweaks, and maintenance agreements. Applying a design perspective provides starting points for co-learning strategies that could improve outcomes. Two example strategies that have potential in this regard are described, using demo dwellings and user manual as PSS prototypes in the early design phase. These and similar strategies could support the professionals in the field in creating successful ZE renovation/building processes.

There is an increasing acknowledgement of the role of residents in the success of low- or zero-energy renovations. One of the approaches to improve this factor is by influencing resident behaviour by means of devices for feedback on consumption. The goal of these systems is to help residents make sense of the relation between their actions and choices, and their energy consumption, indoor environmental conditions and comfort. In this paper we describe interactions with these devices as one form of data encounter. We then suggest that there are other forms of data encounters already happening in renovated homes by which residents make sense. These data encounters are useful to understand if we want to understand the interactions between residents and buildings. We introduce the concepts of sense-making and interactive adaptation to better understand these data encounters. In this study we show data encounters in various forms as they happen in four renovated homes in the same building in the Netherlands. We use interviews and video-recorded walkthroughs to identify data encounters related to indoor climate and energy consumption within these homes. We find data encounters that involve more than displays and technical devices. Residents use bodily senses, information from other people, and complex contextual information to understand indoor climate and energy consumption. We also find that data encounters relate to, and are embedded in everyday practices and routines. Finally, we find that data encounters involve active sense-making rather than passive consumption of information. We discuss these findings and conclude by suggesting that existing data encounters could serve as a starting point for the improved design of buildings, renovation processes, and the selection, design and implementation of new data encounters.

This study aims to collect data on the activities, postures, dis(comfort), and needs of train passengers. Observations in the trains and questionnaires completed by train passengers were used. The online questionnaire was completed using the smartphone of the passengers during the train trip. The most often observed activity of the passengers was using a smartphone while travelling. They used a smartphone to listen to music, chat or type, look at a video or picture, and to read. Most passengers reported that they hold a smartphone with both hands and used a smartphone with the right hand also. The thigh support and the armrests of the seat showed the lowest comfort and certainly have room for improvement. Future research could be considered to design the seat to increase passenger comfort while using a smartphone.

BACKGROUND: The number of smartphone users is immense. People can do ever more with a smartphone. Smartphones are used everywhere, including in bed and on the sofa. The awkward postures taken in these situations affect comfort and discomfort. In designing a bed, it might be useful to know which position is comfortable for smartphone use on a bed. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to define the most comfortable trunk angle for smartphone use on a bed. METHODS: To study comfort and discomfort, 52 participants were asked to use the smartphone on a bed. The trunk angle of this bed was adjusted to 6 positions from flat to upright and for each angle the comfort and discomfort was recorded. RESULTS: The results showed that the participants prefer a trunk angle range around 120 and 142 degrees. At the best trunk angle 29% of the participants felt comfort in the legs, 25% in the upper back and 16% in the shoulders. However, in this position 36% also mentioned discomfort in the lower back and 24 % in the neck. CONCLUSIONS: For smartphone use a bed is preferable which enables a trunk angle of around 120-140 degrees. For the legs this is comfortable. However, for the neck and upper back the problem of discomfort still needs attention.

In this article, we highlight some of our learnings from realised refurbishment projects on residents’ actions and motivations in the various ways they aerate their home. The aim of the projects is to contribute to global climate change mitigation goals by developing residential energy-reducing refurbishments that can be upscaled (Silvester et al., 2017). Our research has a design research perspective, which means that we enquire into the relationship between the residents and the user interfaces and building elements in their refurbished home. We draw these learnings from our involvement as observers and advisers in several recent zeroenergy refurbishment projects in social housing in the Netherlands. We will show that the residents’ actions are related to their trust in the user interfaces. Thistrust is in turn related to some of the values that the residents expect their home to address: support keeping healthy, facilitating their activities and lifestyle, andhaving systems that are easy to use and control (Guerra-Santin et al., 2017).

Sustainable home refurbishments are part of the many efforts needed in climate change mitigation. This practice note presents service tools that aim to link the residents’ values with the technology they will use after a sustainable refurbishment of their home. This technology will affect their daily living practices. In a recent sustainable refurbishment pilot project, my and colleagues’ role was to advise a building company running this process. With colleagues, I developed service tools to communicate with residents about what the refurbishment would mean for them. The service tools and an initial reflection on each one are presented and discussed here. Two types of tools are presented: tools to support residents in bringing their interests to bear, and tools to communicate with the residents about the new technology. I found that level of abstraction, timing, form and familiarity of the tools to stakeholders affect theireffectiveness in the process.