Influence of occupants’ behaviour on energy use in buildings. Field survey case study

In order to achieve the energy saving and reduction of CO2 emissions objectives set by EU policies, it is essential to decrease the amount of energy absorbed by buildings to ensure occupants’ thermal-hygrometric well-being. To this aim, the two most popular ways are the energy requalification of the existing built heritage and the search for the best performing building technological systems solutions. A further research line, which is becoming increasingly important, involves the modification of users’ behaviour as they become aware of the consequences of their energy choices. Detecting, analysing and understanding occupants’ behaviour is a key element in profiling users’ incorrect habits, evaluating the building energy performance and simulating and optimizing the building energy consumption during operation phas