An Occupant-Centric Theory of Building Control Systems and Their User Interfaces

Abstract

This paper presents an occupant-centric theory of buildings’ indoor-environmental control systems and their user interfaces. Buildings typically can have multiple devices and systems to maintain indoor-environmental conditions within certain ranges in order to meet occupants’ health and comfort requirements. Therefore, it is important to understand what those ranges are exactly, who defines them, and for whom. Health and comfort sciences offer some broad directions concerning desirable indoor conditions. These are typically formulated in various codes, standards, and guidelines in terms of target values or the set points of control variables. However, preferable conditions may differ at different times and for different individuals. Another question concerns the agency responsible for maintaining the preferred conditions. In some settings, conditions may be centrally controlled via the buildings’ automation systems, whereas in other settings, occupants might have the possibility to control their immediate surroundings. Given these qualifications, the objective of the present inquiry can be stated more precisely. We outline a human-ecologically inspired theory pertaining to the occupants’ perception of and interaction with a building’s indoor-environmental control systems and their user interfaces. Specifically, we explore the operationalization potential of the proposed theory as a compact assessment protocol for the evaluation of buildings’ responsiveness to occupants’ preferences. Initial experiences with the derivative protocol are promising. Nonetheless, in order to be fully applicable in practice, certain challenges must be addressed. These specifically include the need for more robust procedures toward the translation of occupants’ subjective judgments into quantitative evaluation scales.

Task-based paradigm for the design of office occupant-building interactions

“…The first sub-part is a user-facing interface. The user interface provides a graphical means for the user to communicate the desired environment condition to the system (Mahdavi et al, 2021;O'Brien et al, 2020). Current control interfaces are presented to the occupant in terms of the building system being controlled (Karjalainen, 2007b;O'Brien et al, 2020).…”

“…Current control interfaces are presented to the occupant in terms of the building system being controlled (Karjalainen, 2007b;O'Brien et al, 2020). The current focus is to combine controls for multiple building systems into a single interface (Karjalainen & Koistinen, 2007;Mahdavi et al, 2021). The goal of the consolidated interface is to simplify building controls to improve usability, building energy performance and occupant comfort (Jain et al, 2012;Li et al, 2017;Luna-Navarro et al, 2020).…”

“…A different approach to a design concept is to use a theory on the built environment (Vicente & Rasmussen, 1992). These theories are used to explain the influence behind occupant actions that produces the occupant's experience with the building (Du & Pan, 2021;Koskela, 2008;Mahdavi et al, 2021). While an exhaustive review of the theories is beyond the scope of this dissertation, a review of the most relevant theories on the built environment is presented here.…”

“…Occupant actions are determined by more than just comfort Jin et al, 2021;Mahdavi et al, 2021;Uddin et al, 2021;Zhu et al, 2021). For example, an occupant is less likely to change the window blind position to get more light if it means the sun is radiating directly on them (Kent et al, 2021;Luna-Navarro et al, 2020;Rubin et al, 1978).…”

“…While secondary tasks compliment primary tasks, secondary tasks are generated separately from primary tasks. Further, secondary tasks require two different algorithms to generate (Mahdavi et al, 2021;Ward & Choudhary, 2021). As a result, the secondary task may not be directly associated with the primary task.…”