Intelligent Residential Buildings and the Behaviour of the Occupants

This book presents the state of the art of two areas: intelligent residential buildings and the behaviour of their occupants. These areas need to be treated together in order to develop new concepts for buildings, which are more efficient, more comfortable and more healthy. The concept of intelligent building is associated with the creation of a management system that takes into account the requirements of the occupants in terms of thermal comfort and their daily activities, maintaining good indoor air quality and minimizing energy consumption. In commercial or office buildings, these systems are already at an intermediate stage of implementation. However, in the residential sector they have yet to be significantly implemented. In mild climates, where the interactions of the occupants with the building mechanisms are the primary way to ensure adequate comfort and ventilation, the importance of occupant behaviour studies and their incorporation in the algorithmsof the intelligent buildings becomes even more crucial. This book offers new concepts on how to bring these aspects together.