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The impact of occupant behaviour on residential greenhouse gas emissions reduction

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Version 1 2016-04-15, 18:50
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-13, 09:41 authored by J Hetherington, Astrid RoetzelAstrid Roetzel, R Fuller
In 2011-12, greenhouse gas emissions from the Australian residential sector were 101.6 Mt and are expected to grow by 38% by 2050. In order to reduce these emissions, much emphasis has been placed on increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances. Occupant behaviour, however, is probably the single most significant factor which determines energy use and emissions. This paper describes research undertaken to rank the most common occupant behaviours, based upon their impact on greenhouse gas emissions associated with residential energy use, in an architect-designed house in Australia. The occupant behaviours investigated were changing: the heating and cooling temperature set points, window openings, external blind use and lighting use. Simulations were carried out using Primero and EnergyPlus software. Based on the simulation results of greenhouse gas emissions, the following ranking of overall influence (from most influential to the least) has been determined: external blind use was one of the most effective measures to reduce emissions. Cooling set point temperature was similarly important with the magnitude of impact depending on the set point e.g. a 2°C increase had an impact comparable to the use of external blinds. The impact of the heating set point temperature was also dependent on the set point and overall slightly lower compared to the cooling set point temperature. Lighting use was the least influential parameter in the context of this study.

History

Journal

Journal of green building

Volume

10

Pagination

127-140

Location

Glen Allen, Va.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1552-6100

eISSN

1943-4618

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2015, College Publishing

Issue

4

Publisher

College Publishing