Occupant behaviour in buildings - electricity consumption in residential buildings
Abstract
Energy-related occupant behaviour has a major impact on the energy use in buildings, and occupant behaviour is also a key parameter for building design optimization, energy diagnosis, performance evaluation and building energy performance simulation. Using today's models for occupant behaviour, there is major differences between energy use simulated and real measurements for the same building. One of the main reasons for this difference is the lack of proper occupant behaviour models. The work of this thesis will support the development of knowledge regarding occupant behaviour related to energy, which can lead to development of more accurate occupant behaviour models. The work accomplished concerns mainly the kitchen and kitchen appliances.
To get more information of household appliances, a knowledge base of typical devices in a residential has been prepared. The knowledge base contains device performance and characteristics of electrical energy consumption in time for 21 different household devices. A survey concerning use and placement of kitchen appliances have been conducted to get more information on use of devices. The results of the part of survey which dealt with placement of devices in the kitchen have been used as base for development of heat maps of device placement in the kitchen.
Field measurements from the ZEB - Living Lab have been used for decoding of electricity consumption behaviour in residential buildings. Based on this, and the developed heat maps, a simulator for household usage have been developed. The simulator has to be further developed, and suggestions for this work is given.