P. Cosar Jorda et al.
Year:
2013
Bibliographic info:
Building Simulation, 2013, Chambéry, France

The application of building simulation and modelling is becoming more widespread, particularly in the anal-ysis of residential buildings. The energy consump-tion and control of systems in residential buildings are tightly linked to the behaviour of people, arguably more so than in commercial buildings which have tra-ditionally been the preserve of building simulation analysis. The input profiles used in simulation pay little attention to the link between numerical charac-terisations of observed ‘behaviour’ and the way people actually live in the home. Understanding this is impor-tant if we are to improve the modelling of buildings, gain greater insight into energy consumption and make better decisions about future energy production and generation. This paper explores this link by combining conventional numerical analysis of appliance data with insights from the ethnographic study of families in 20 UK homes. Ethnographic insights provide a context to the analysis and understanding of monitoring data that would not otherwise be possible. Importantly, this paper highlights the need to rethink previously static notions of simulation input, such as occupancy and in-dividual appliance use.