Abstract
The current design of energy-efficient buildings used to be performed by dynamic thermal simulations using conventional hypotheses like those of the 2012 French thermal regulations (weather reports, occupancy, temperature set, operations of windows and shutters by occupants, etc...). However, feedback highlights a great difference in energy consumption between forecasts on the one hand and in situ measurements in winter as well as overheating in summer on the other hand. According to the scientific community, even if many factors can account for this gap, the inhabitants seem to play a major role in it as well. Indeed, by acting on their windows and shutters, they modify the renewal rate of fresh air and the management of solar contributions. As the matter of fact, the use and the type of windows and shutters affect the energy consumptions and the comfort. The aim of this study is to analyse the thermal evolution of occupied apartments in order to establish a behavioral model of the occupants. This will allow us to quantify the impact of architectural modifications on the thermal comfort and the energy performances of buildings.Two residential buildings are investigated in Vauvert (a city in southern of France). Both of them were built in 1969 using the same constructive techniques and have lately been renovated in a similar way (CMV, boilers, windows). The only difference is that on the facade of one of them an external thermal insulation has recently been installed. The analysis of the real thermal conditions, of the actual human behavior and of the amount of energy consumed is built on surveys and on an extensive year-round in situ instrumentation in the living rooms of 13 apartments. It allows us to define a behavioral model of occupants based on 32 different combinations in the operations of windows and shutters. We can divide them into three occupants' profiles (the “expert” occupant, the “active” occupant and the “counterproductive” occupant). Digital Pléiades+COMFIE simulations are made in order to validate this model. The refined modeling of the dynamic thermal simulation parameters helps to understand the impact on the thermal comfort and the energy consumption of different architectural strategies in the Mediterranean area.In winter the thermal analysis of the two residential buildings (insulated and non-insulated) shows similar levels of consumption, but a lower level of thermal comfort in the non-insulated case. However during temperature peaks in summer, overheating appears in the insulated dwellings, but human behavior is the key to limit occupants’ discomfort. The analysis of in situ measurements shows that strategies to cool down the apartments are not always implemented by occupants. Architectural solutions mitigating “counterproductive” occupants’ behavior are finally examined.