Heating and Ventilation: Understanding User Behaviour Victoria Haines Senior Lecturer and Head of the User Centred Design Research Group Loughborough Design School
Climate change
Climate change
Technological solutions
Consumption still increasing World Energy Consumption by Source, From: Tverberg, G (2012) World Energy Consumption Since 1820 in Charts
Behaviour and choice
Overview Background User centred design Energy demand reduction Heating and ventilation Suggestions for improvement
My background Ergonomics graduate from Loughborough User-task-environment as a central tenet User needs Task requirements Environment factors a philosophy, with the user as the central component
My background Wide range of past projects: The safety of children s toys The design of hospital trolleys Vehicle seating comfort Layout of control panels Smart home technology Design of heating controls Energy use in homes Design of energy efficient technologies Fuel poverty Thermal comfort
Domestic energy demand reduction To understand how and why people use energy and how energy efficiency measures might be adopted
Research projects CALEBRE: Consumer-Appealing Low Energy Technologies for Building Retrofitting, 2m funding from EPSRC and E.ON, 2008-2013 Carbon, Control and Comfort: User-centred control systems for comfort, carbon saving and energy management, 2.1m funding from EPSRC and E.ON, 2009-2012 Challenge 100: Alleviating 100 households from fuel poverty in 100 days, E.ON project, 2009-2011 Thermal Energy Storage: The Future Role of Thermal Energy Storage in the UK Energy System, 130k funding from UKERC, 2011-13 DEFACTO: Digital Energy Feedback and Control Technology Optimisation, 1.5m funding from EPSRC, 2012-2017 i-stute: Interdisciplinary Centre for Storage, Transformation and Upgrading of Thermal Energy, 5.2m funding from EPSRC, 2013-2018
Our approach Understanding users in context Understanding how people do things Understanding why people do things: values and goals attitudes and expectations Translating these into requirements for designers, engineers, housing associations etc
What do people want from their home? WANTS: 1. A home that is comfortable to live in 2. A home that is nice to look at 3. My home to adapt to changing family or lifestyle 4. My home to be a safe place 5. My home to be a secure place 6. My home to be clean 7. My home to be efficient
What do people value in their homes? People (in particular family) Space Memories Technology provides a service: Keeping in touch Being entertained Keeping warm HAINES, V., MITCHELL, V., COOPER, C., MAGUIRE, M. 2006. Probing user values in the home environment within a technology driven Smart Home project. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 11(5) 349-359.
Carbon, Control and Comfort project and PhD research Social housing tenants Small sample in detail tenants and landlords Retrofitted ground source heat pumps Mixed methods interviews, audio tours, diaries, probe packs, focus groups, co-design To understand how people create comfort in their homes and control their heating To investigate the experience of social housing tenants receiving renewable heating technology and make recommendations for improvement
CALEBRE project Owner occupiers in solid wall houses Small sample in detail Attitudes to home improvement and comfort Mixed methods interviews, timeline, comfort diary, temperature sensors, energy survey To establish a validated, comprehensive mechanism for reducing UK domestic carbon emissions that is acceptable and appealing to users
Challenge 100 Case study approach to cover those at highest risk of being in fuel poverty Recruited in partnership with local authorities in 5 areas in UK Package of measures offered under CERT / CESP To determine whether fuel poverty can be eradicated and how this is best done
Heat pumps Some tenants explicitly told the heat pump would cut their electricity bills Heat pumps were set up and tenants told not to adjust them Tenants didn t receive instructions unless they specifically asked for them. Some given verbal instructions but these were brief and often the information was not retained by the tenant They know exactly what they re doing and they say do this, this and this, and you think, yep, I vaguely understood that, but go through it again. And so they go through it again, but by the time they ve gone and the following day arrives, you ve forgotten. They don t give instructions out. You don t need to know love, he said its set and you don t need to bother with it anymore.
Heat pumps Most tenants do not interact with the heat pump controls either because they lack confidence / understanding or because they ve been expressly told not to He wrote them out and I stuck them on the heat pump. That s just if I want to alter the temperature; you know, make it hotter.
Taking control of what you can
Taking control of what you can
Airtightness Progressive sealing of the E.ON 2016 test house Stage Air permeability at 50Pa (m 3 /m 2.h) Description of work As built 15.57 1 14.31 2 9.84 3 8.60 Single glazed windows, Uninsulated walls, floor and roof space, No draught-proofing Double glazing installed, Insulation applied to walls and loft, Draught-proofing applied to windows (excluding kitchen, bathroom and WC) and doors, Installation of whole house, MVHR system Kitchen, bathroom, WC windows and under croft trap-door draughtproofed, Draught-proofing throughout house re-installed, Window trickle vents blocked up Service risers sealed, Pipework penetrations sealed (radiators, water pipes etc.), Sealing around boiler flue, Covers fitted to door locks, Kitchen fan removed and bricked up 4 5 Suspended timber ground floor insulated and sealed Draught-proofing poorly applied to the windows and doors Incomplete seals around the perimeter Installing MVHR system created new gaps in the building envelope and duct connections to the rooms Significant effort and cost needed to achieve good airtightness MVHR with poor airtightness increases energy use
Airtightness
Airtightness Householder response to airtightness: Air flow and freshness desirable Many homes have open fireplaces and chimneys seen as a desirable feature Habitual door and window opening/closing practices Ventilation used to control damp Feelings that draughts keep a house healthy Poor understanding of the purpose of airtightness and MVHR Retrofit airtightness and MVHR systems is complex and disruptive Need to ensure user needs are met understanding of the system and its benefits, meeting user goals BANFILL, P.F.G., SIMPSON, S.A., HAINES, V.J., MALLABAND, R.A.L., 2012. Energy-led retrofitting of solid wall dwellings technical and user perspectives on airtightness. Structural Survey, 30 (3) 267-279
Challenge 100 Delivering support to families in fuel poverty Installed external wall insulation in 78 homes Loft top up and full insulation in 39 homes Installed energy monitors in 64 homes Provided energy efficiency advice to 58 families Discussed tariff and payment options with 58 families
Challenge 100 Eradicated fuel poverty for 42 families Average FP improved from 15.2 to 10.6 Average SAP improved from 46 to 61 Reduced fuel costs by an average of 351 for each family Measures cost an average of 6,371 per house Practical insights into delivering support for families in fuel poverty
Practical insights
Practical insights E.ON, (2010). Challenge 100 Final Report: Tackling fuel poverty for 100 families, in 100 homes, in 100 days. E.ON UK plc
Suggestions for improvement Information needs to be supplied on: the best ways to live with technologies such as a heat pump or MVHR, to allow people to know how to optimise its use what to expect practically during installation and during usage, including running costs explanations of functions and symbols on their heating controls electricity tariff advice to ensure households are on most suitable contact information Written information (including diagrams with labels) must be simple and clear, in plain English. Text size and font appropriate for older people with poorer eyesight
Suggestions for improvement Ensure the technology is usable and no more complex than necessary Provide controls that are appropriate, perhaps with standardised controls to ensure consistent advice is given Give tenants a route to discuss issues openly Provide follow up visits (after a period of adjustment), to check the system and to answer any questions. This should be a personal visit Council staff should have better training with regards to heat pump systems so that they can talk confidently with tenants Provide reference material to refresh staff over time Ensure installations are of highest quality, and know what to look for to check!
Bridging the Gap Design also has a role to play, to improve products, systems and services User centred design bridges the gap between users and technologists, engineers, scientists, designers, landlords..to achieve a more acceptable and appealing outcome for all
Thank You Acknowledgements EPSRC / E.ON who funded the CCC and CALEBRE projects Natalie Moore, Becky Mallaband and Val Mitchell and other members of the research teams who were involved in this work Victoria Haines Loughborough Design School v.j.haines@lboro.ac.uk