Concern & action: Personal preference
People have habitual practices, e.g.. sleeping with the window open, airing the house in the morning, drying clothes on radiators etc. that may not be energy efficient or may affect technical performance (e.g. ventilation). Note that within a single building there may be conflicting preferences between users.
Suggested actions
Before Implementation
Engage users and understand their personal patterns of use of the house (rooms use, cooking mode, heating settings, ventilation routines). Discuss with them the implications and/or restrictions the new measures will have in their personal routines and amend as necessary if restrictions prove too impractical. Choose controls with user and get them to interact with the options before choosing.
During implementation
Provide guidance in various formats but only of those items specific to their homes. Keep guidance simple, concise and straightforward. Demonstrate user interfaces and controls at handover of their house or soon after moving in. Provide variety of ways of communication for the different ages, needs and abilities. Make it easy for them to ask questions.
After implementation
Come back and check whether there is any teething problems and understand what changes have they made to their lives.
RELATED MEASURES
FABRIC (1)
SERVICES (10)
Lighting system upgrade
Background ventilators and intermittent extract fans
Passive stack ventilation
Continuous mechanical extract ventilation
Continuous mechanical supply and extract ventilation with heat recovery
Passive stack ventilation with heat recovery
Passive stack ventilation with demand control ventilation
Continuous mechanical extract ventilation with demand control ventilation
Continuous mechanical supply and extract ventilation with heat recovery and with demand control ventilation
RELATED REFERENCES (8)
Tech Paper 6 - Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings (2009)
Halliday, S., (Gaia Research)
Solid Wall Insulation in Scotland: Exploring barriers, solutions and new approaches (2012)
Changeworks
Future Fit: Installation Phase in depth findings (2011)
EST/Affinity Sutton
Performance and control of domestic ground-source heat pumps in retrofit installations (2011)
Boait, P.J., Fan, D. and Stafford, A.
Getting Warmer: a field trial of heat pumps (2010)
Energy Saving Trust
Energy-led retrofitting of solid wall dwellings: technical and user perspectives on airtightness. Structural Survey, 30 (3), pp. 267 - 279 (2012)
Banfill P, Simpson S, Haines V, Mallaband B
Barriers to domestic retrofit – learning from past home improvement experiences. IN: Retrofit 2012, University of Salford, 24-25th Jan., pp. 1 - 10 (2012)
Mallaband B, Haines V and Mitchell V