B02 eNVELOP A

Human Factors in Household Energy Consumption

eNVELOP A empirically assesses the interdependence of private living comfort and energy consumption in residential buildings. Findings will lead to optimal adaptation in design and implementation of future housing projects. Living comfort comprises criteria such as subjective feeling of comfort, health and personal use of home space as well as the perceived added value of energy efficiency. Energy consumption relates to real usage and costs for heating, air-conditioning, electricity and water accruing to the residents.

It is expected that climate change will have considerable impact on both living comfort and energy costs. In order to develop sustainable adaptation measures in the building industry and housing sector the interplay of climate change and user-behavior as well as technical aspects such as the regulation of room temperature, surface temperature, air moisture, air movement, light, carbon dioxide, electro-smog and noise are considered.