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This paper aims to investigate the indoor environmental conditions and energy use behaviours of older individuals in rural cold climates of China, with a specific focus on cooling practices during the summer months in the Shandong region. This study employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative indoor environmental monitoring with qualitative interviews and observations, to explore the relationship between environmental factors, household living conditions, and energy use patterns across five types of elderly households: three generations living together, older people living with grandchildren, older people living with children, older couples living together, and older people living alone. Data collection was conducted over five weeks during the summer of 2023 using HOBO UX100-003 data loggers, while external weather conditions were monitored by the China Meteorological Administration. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights into daily cooling behaviours and energy use. The results reveal that cooling practices and indoor environmental conditions vary significantly among the different household types. Multigenerational households showed more complex energy use dynamics, with younger family members frequently operating high-energy appliances like air conditioners, while older individuals tended to rely on natural ventilation and electric fans to reduce energy costs. In contrast, older couples and solitary older individuals demonstrated more conservative cooling behaviours, often enduring higher indoor temperatures due to limited financial resources and a desire to minimize energy expenditures. Despite the high energy use intensity in some households, many homes failed to achieve comfortable indoor environments, particularly in dwellings with minimal insulation and older building materials. This study concludes that economic status, household structure, and building characteristics play crucial roles in shaping cooling behaviours and indoor comfort during the summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students′ satisfaction with the environment and service facilities in residences affects their energy use behaviours. Taking the post-occupancy evaluation data of a university dormitory in Ningbo as the sample, this paper divides the student population into three categories according to the place of origin, gender and admission year based on their demographic characteristics and compares the difference of thermal comfort and satisfaction among different sample groups. It is found that even in conditioned rooms in winter, students who are originally from centrally heated areas feel colder than those from non-centrally heated areas; female students have higher requirements for sound insulation than male students, and the longer students stay in the university, the more their satisfaction converged, but the lower their overall satisfaction.

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Non-residential buildings in the European Union consume more than one third of the building sector’s total. Many non-residential buildings are owned by municipalities. This paper reports about an energy saving competition that was carried out in 91 municipal buildings in eight EU member states in 2019. For each public building an energy team was formed. The energy teams’ activities encompassed motivating changes in the energy use behaviour of employees and small investments. Two challenges added an element of gamification to the energy saving competition. To assess the success of the energy saving competition, an energy performance baseline was calculated using energy consumption data of each public building from previous years. Energy consumption in the competition year was monitored on a monthly base. After the competition the top energy savers from each country were determined by the percentage-based reduction of energy consumption compared to the baseline. On average, the buildings had an electricity and heat consumption in 2019 that was about 8 % and 7 %, respectively, lower than the baseline. As an additional data source for the evaluation, a survey among energy team members was conducted at the beginning and after the energy competition. Support from superiors, employee interest and motivation and behaviour change as assessed by energy team members show a positive, if weak or moderate, correlation with changes in electricity consumption, but not with changes in heat consumption.

This review paper studies the differences in the energy use behaviour in households in developing and developed countries, by focus on a geographically diverse selection of publications. The study has been divided into sections in which energy use, socio-economic factors, policies and the methods used in the surveys have been investigated. The main motivation of the study was to understand user behavioural patterns influencing energy consumption (or reduction in use), and the effect of varying socio-demographic factors on the same. The methodologies adopted in the papers reviewed have been compared. Surveys were prioritized in the examined papers to see if there was an pattern in household energy use and which behaviours affected this. For the developing countries door knocking were the most used strategy to get hold of information. For the developed countries surveys online were the most effective strategy. In Japan and Norway clear differences could be seen due to the culture of the countries, which affected the households energy use. For the developing countries energy here is not predominantly electricity. Biofuels and kerosene were the most common fuels used for the daily life of the residents in the developing countries. A transition from these fuels to more modern energy is happening right now in the 21st century. The government have a big impact on the households energy use and the governments for the different countries prioritize differently as seen in Kuwait where they subsidy 90% of the final electricity for the households thus increases the energy use significantly which have a negative sustainable development effect. While on the other hand the government in Zambia decided to shut down the whole electricity grid for eight hours per day during a two year period of time to save energy. Effective strategies for reducing energy use, according to most of the publications, are tailor-made information and feedback to users, and clear outlining of goals by the decision-makers, for both the developed countries and the developing countries. Future research should focus on effective formulation of the feedback provided to users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates an energy-inefficient council housing tower block in London, due for retrofit, by exploring the correlations between occupancy and energy consumption patterns, thermal comfort and building energy performance in the winter. The aim of this study is to evaluate the building performance and develop a reliable building simulation model to be employed in the second phase of the study for developing an energy-efficient and cost-effective retrofit strategy to support the council's plans. The research seeks to demonstrate the significance of using dominant occupancy and energy use profiles as opposed to relying on standardised profiles when calculating building energy consumption using building simulation software. The paper reports on the results from the first phase of the study where a quantitative methodology; including a questionnaire, structured interviews, indoor monitoring, and building simulation modelling was adopted. The results provide evidence that occupants’ socio-demographic characteristics have a considerable impact on household energy consumption and fuel bills. The results also show that indoor environmental issues experienced in many flats are partly attributed to the thermally inefficient building envelope and partly due to occupants’ patterns of operating their homes with evidence of excessive heating energy use in attempts to alleviate the indoor issues experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A survey on appliance use behaviour and HEMS-based DR preferences. • Survey results are translated into a simulation using a HEMS tool. • Participants' willingness to use HEMS for DR is 78%. • DR lowers peak consumption by 33%, but only with a low average bill reduction (6.7%). • Low bill reduction is a barrier to HEMS adoption. Effective pricing is required. • 21% of the HEMS owners save over 10% on their bills. 8% save over 15%, and 3% over 20%. Residential demand response (DR) aims to stabilize the electricity grid by utilizing the flexibility of end-users. To this end, end-users are offered time-varying electricity prices and incentivized for load shifting. End-users can maximize bill reduction through automated load shifting using home energy management systems (HEMSs). Since HEMS is a new technology, the future DR potential of its mass use is unknown. Here, surveys can be very useful for gaining insight into future behaviour and preferences in using HEMS. Therefore, the objective of this study is twofold: (1) to understand appliance use behaviour, electricity tariff perception, and tendency towards HEMS-based DR participation, through a survey. And then, (2) to simulate the DR potential by entering survey responses into a HEMS optimization tool. The results show that 78% of the respondents are willing to engage in HEMS-based DR. This provides the potential to reduce the peak period consumption by 33%. However, the average bill savings achieved by HEMS owners is only 6.7%, which can hinder reaching this potential. Still, 21% of the HEMS owners save more than 10% on their bills. 8% save over 15%, and 3% over 20%. These can be the target audience of the future HEMS market and DR campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home energy management systems are widely promoted as essential components of future low carbon economies. It is argued in this paper that assumptions surrounding their deployment, and the methods used to design them, emerge from discredited models of people and energy. This offers an explanation for why their field trial performance is so inconsistent. A first of a kind field trial is reported. Three eco communities took part in a comprehensive participatory design exercise as lead users. The challenge was to help users synchronise their energy use behaviours with the availability of locally generated renewable energy sources. To meet this aim, a set of highly novel Home Energy Management interfaces were co-designed and tested. Not only were the designs radically different to the norm, but they also yielded sustained user engagement over a six-month follow-up period. It is argued that user-centred design holds the key to unlocking the energy saving potential of new domestic technologies, and this study represents a bold step in that direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite new energy-efficient technologies in buildings, discrepancies between predicted and actual energy use continue to occur, mainly due to the complexity and variability of users' behaviour(s). Users' interactions with energy-efficient solutions need to be studied holistically to better understand the complexity of their behaviour. This systematic literature review was conducted to identify whether and to what extent researchers have considered the role of users, users' behaviour and behavioural drivers in interactions with buildings' energy-efficient solutions following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The review evaluated how focus (the studied context and users' interactions) and tools (the methods and theoretical background) were applied in the selected studies. The findings show that the majority of the studies neglected in-depth investigations of users' behavioural drivers. Only few studies considered psychological factors and applied related theories to identify drivers of energy-use behaviours. Behavioural drivers varied depending on types of energy-use behaviour, user and environmental characteristics. This review points to the need to further investigate the role of users in the interactions with energy-efficient solutions holistically and suggests possible implications for defining effective energy-saving strategies. Overall, the result of the reviewed papers was not consistent with affirming energy efficiency in energy-efficient buildings and therefore, emphasises a need for detailed analyses of users' behavioural drivers together with physical and social contexts to reduce the mismatch between predicted and actual energy use. • Studies on user interaction with buildings' energy-efficient solutions were reviewed. • Findings were not consistent if energy-efficient solutions reduce energy use. • Behavioural drivers varied depending on user and environmental characteristics. • Psychological factors affecting energy efficiency in buildings are still neglected. • Applying a holistic approach would provide a better understanding of users' role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lighting systems consume a significant proportion of the energy used in commercial buildings, and the control of lighting use is an important determinant of the energy performance of buildings. A review and meta-analysis of lighting energy studies in commercial premises is undertaken to investigate difficulties with reported energy-saving claims for popular lighting control methods Earlier studies have indicated that in some installations automated controls may save very little energy if they are replacing manual control. However, even where manual control would be a reasonable expectation, such as in private offices, it has been common practice to report saving in energy compared to the lights being used throughout the working day, which leads to overstatement of the energy-saving potential. However, generally, user behaviour cannot be reliably predicted, which makes it difficult to quantify properly the benefits of adding automatic controls. It is argued that savings should instead be quantified with reference to published norms for lighting use in commercial buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy policy tools aimed at achieving energy savings for buildings have often yielded less than the predicted savings. One reason for these results is that the design of these tools often neglects the actions and behaviours of the building occupants, and focuses more on the cost and ease of implementation. This research highlights the importance of identifying the diverse characteristics of occupants that significantly contribute to environmental problems, and the factors that make sustainable behavioural patterns attractive. A multilevel intervention strategy tailored to various occupants’ characteristics to produce and maintain large-scale energy savings for buildings over time is proposed. To achieve this, the framework adopts a motivation/opportunity/ability (MOA) approach from the consumer and social marketing fields, where intervention strategies can be regarded as advertisements enticing the building occupants to adopt certain energy-use characteristics. The conceptual framework involves: measuring occupants’ pre- and post-intervention exposure MOA level and energy-use profiles; clustering occupants based on identified characteristics; and accordingly choose energy-efficiency intervention strategies. The results of a case study of an actual building highlight the capabilities of the proposed framework in the selection of effective intervention strategies to achieve the required energy reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Household energy demand due to domestic computer usage has changed beyond recognition over the past thirty years. Computers are now used in most homes, almost every day and laptop ownership has overtaken traditional desktop computers. Mobile devices give access to services that in the past required desktops, and they are usually more energy efficient. Today's computers usually rely on wireless routers that are often run all day. The effect of these changes on electricity use in the home has been profound. At least 60% more electricity was used for UK home computing in 2012 than in 1990. The implications of recent changes in information technology use are assessed for domestic electricity use and carbon emissions, using data from the Household Electricity Survey (HES) – the most detailed survey of electricity consumption in UK homes. On average, routers use twice as much energy per day as the laptops they serve. Laptops also draw power at a different time of day compared with desktop computers – which has implications for generation. Policy and practical recommendations are made for reducing energy use for information technology, including the estimated energy savings that could be achieved if UK routers met the US Energy Star standard for energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Electricity demand response refers to consumer actions that change the utility load profile in a way that reduces costs or improves grid security. The focus of demand response has mainly been on the commercial and big industrial sectors because of the large demand reduction that they can offer to the utility grid operators. Utilities are showing increasing interest in residential demand response (RDR). RDR can be treated as an energy resource which can be assessed and commercially developed, however, there are still some issues that remain to be addressed for RDR to be successful. These include price unresponsiveness of some residential consumers, equity issues and high cost of the metering infrastructure. The aim of this paper is to investigate and present some of the challenges in achieving effective voluntary demand reduction based on a review of residential demand response literature as well as the general residential energy use behaviour literature. The authors propose the use of a hybrid engineering approach using social psychology and economic behaviour models to overcome these challenges and realize the benefits of supply security and cost management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

German regulations for the thermal renovation of existing homes demand high thermal standards, which the government claims are technically and economically feasible. This paper examines existing data on 3400 German homes; their calculated energy performance ratings (EPR) are then plotted against the actual measured consumption. The results indicate that occupants consume, on average, 30% less heating energy than the calculated rating. This phenomenon is identified as the ‘prebound’ effect and increases with the calculated rating. The opposite phenomenon, the rebound effect, tends to occur for low-energy dwellings, where occupants consume more than the rating. A similar phenomenon has been recognized in recent Dutch, Belgian, French and UK studies, suggesting policy implications in two directions. Firstly, using a dwelling's energy rating to predict fuel and CO2 savings through retrofits tends to overestimate savings, underestimate the payback time and possibly discourage cost-effective, incremental improvements. Secondly, the potential fuel and CO2 savings through non-technical measures such as occupant behaviour may well be far larger than is generally assumed in policies so policy-makers need a better understanding of what drives or inhibits occupants' decisions. La réglementation allemande relative à la rénovation thermique des logements existants exige des normes thermiques élevées, que le gouvernement prétend être techniquement et économiquement applicables. Cet article examine les données existantes sur 3400 logements allemands; leurs classes d'efficacité énergétique (CEE) calculées sont ensuite comparées à la consommation réelle mesurée. Les résultats indiquent que les occupants consomment, en moyenne, 30 % d'énergie de chauffage en moins que la classe calculée. Ce phénomène est identifié en raison de l'accroissement de l'effet de « pré-bond » avec la classe calculée. Le phénomène opposé, l'effet de rebond, tend à se produire dans les logements à basse consommation d'énergie, dans lesquels les occupants ont une consommation supérieure à la classe. Un phénomène similaire a été reconnu dans des études récentes néerlandaises, belges, françaises et britanniques, suggérant des implications en termes de politiques dans deux directions. En premier lieu, l'utilisation de la classe énergétique d'un logement pour prévoir les économies de combustible et de CO2 pouvant être obtenues grâce à des rénovations a tendance à surestimer les économies, à sous-estimer le délai d'amortissement et éventuellement à dissuader d'effectuer des améliorations incrémentielles rentables. En second lieu, les économies potentielles de combustible et de CO2 pouvant être obtenues par des mesures non techniques telles que le comportement des occupants peuvent se révéler être bien plus importantes que cela n'est supposé en règle générale dans les politiques, de sorte que les décideurs ont besoin de mieux comprendre ce qui motive ou empêche les décisions des occupants. Mots clés: performance des bâtiments, rénovations thermiques, politique climatique, classe énergétique, politique énergétique, comportement de consommation énergétique [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the design of energy consumption displays from a theoretical standpoint in relation to user–appliance interactions in the home. It presents the main options for display position and discusses what detailed information to display in order to promote energy saving. To guide the designer in making decisions regarding the merits of displaying appliance-specific information (ASI) and grouped appliance information (GAI) around the home, classifications are presented of appliance-associated micro-behaviours and appliance control to end-use relationships. A hybrid display approach is suggested as a most effective solution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household electricity consumption influenced by various behavioural intervention strategies is difficult to predict due to the uncertainty that arises from human behaviours and their responses to intervention. Based on an energy conservation experiment conducted in Hangzhou, China, the study aims to develop an improved Support Vector Regression model that is capable of predicting household electricity consumption under multiple intervention strategies. This paper firstly proposes a variable selection approach to determine the best subset of consumption predictors using Akaike Information Criterion. The critical predictors of energy behaviours, personality traits, demographic/building features, weather indicators and the historical monthly consumption is identified in this process. Furthermore, this research also introduces the interaction effect between the energy behaviour and all other predictors to the Support Vector Regression model which applies Gaussian radial basis function optimised by genetic algorithm as the kernel function. More importantly, the proposed model is able to select the optimal intervention strategy and to predict the maximum electricity savings for each household. It enables the households to achieve an average reduction of 12.1% in monthly electricity consumption compared with the conventional behavioural intervention. Moreover, the Monte Carlo simulation is performed to explore the relationship between personality traits, the best-fit intervention strategies and the maximum electricity savings. The study also identifies five types of households with different combinations of extraversion and conscientiousness that respond differently to the optimised interventions. The findings of this study contribute to the residential demand-side energy management by enriching and diversifying personalised behavioural intervention strategies. • The improved SVR model can predict electricity usage under behavioural interventions. • 18 critical predictors including behaviours and personality traits are selected. • WeChat with feedback can lead to the largest electricity savings up to 15.97%. • 5 types of people responding differently to optimal interventions are identified. • The proposed method can achieve an average 12.1% reduction in electricity usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]