Wang, Yan; (2022) Monitoring, modelling and analysis of occupants’ operation of windows, use of air purifiers and smart air quality control in low-energy residential buildings. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The premise of this PhD thesis is that a deep understanding of occupant adaptive behaviour along with a tailored application of information and communication technologies can improve occupant comfort and health. Particularly, occupants’ operation of windows exerts a significant impact on building energy consumption and indoor air quality and can potentially conflict with air filtration strategies in buildings. In this context, the present research aimed to 1) identify the key driving factors for occupants’ operation of windows and 2) develop a novel control framework that optimises the operation of windows and portable home air purifiers (HAPs). To this end, field monitoring was conducted in eighteen modern low-energy apartments in London, UK, from early July 2019 to mid-June 2020, to collect data on a range of indoor and outdoor environmental variables, the state of windows and occupancy along with the use of HAPs. Based on this dataset, the first part of the thesis answered a novel research question - whether the use of HAPs affects the way occupants operate windows. Given the evidence presented in this study that the use of HAPs was a statistically significant predictor in only around 30% of window opening and closing models, windows are expected to be freely operated when the HAP is working. The second part of the work explored the effects of a wide range of environmental variables on occupants’ operation of windows, with particular interest paid to indoor PM2.5 and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) which both remain poorly investigated. Statistical analysis showed that indoor temperature, rather than air quality-related variables, was the main driving factor for occupants’ window operation behaviour, given that indoor temperature was statistically significant in about 90% of both window opening and closing models. The final part of the thesis developed a novel control framework that controls both portable home air purifiers and windows to reduce indoor PM2.5 concentrations and, meanwhile, maintain thermal comfort. Compared to similar previous studies, the strength of the proposed control framework lies in combining window operations and the use of HAPs in the same system with both thermal comfort and indoor PM2.5 as control targets. This work also introduces a novel concept of linking a building control system with a health impact assessment, an important and innovative step in the creation of holistic and responsive building controls.

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