Umeå universitets logga

Background: The integration of renewable energy resources in residential buildings significantly reduces CO₂ emissions, as buildings consume approximately 70% of global electricity, with residential structures accounting for 55% of this consumption. To manage the intermittency of renewable energy, demand response (DR) programmes are utilised, aiming to enhance self-consumption of on-site renewable energy and minimise reliance on grid electricity.

Knowledge Gap: Current DR programmes often overlook the thermal comfort, especially preferences of occupants, prioritising energy savings at the expense of user satisfaction. This disregard results in a negative user experience, causing participants to abandon the DR programmes.

Aim: The project proposes the development of occupant-centric DR systems that prioritise individual thermal comfort alongside energy management.

Methods: By leveraging immersive virtual environments in the Intelligence Human-Buildings Interactions (IHBI) lab, users can try out interactions with buildings in various characteristics, exploring how their behaviours influence both energy consumption and comfort. This approach enables users to find strategies that balance their comfort with energy efficiency, while also benefiting from economic incentives.

Contributions: By categorizing human-building interaction patterns, energy consumption, building characteristics, thermal preferences, etc., the project will offer:

1) Thermal Comfort Evaluation Metrics: Development of a DR-based thermal comfortmodel that considers occupant behavior in the context of demand response.

2) Personal Practice Guidance: Provision of personalized interaction strategies tailored for different user groups, ensuring the guarantee of thermal preference and energy savings during DR participation.

3) Long-term Engagement Insights: Providing insights that will encourage sustained participation in DR program over long term according to the evidence collected in a number of experiments.