ABSTRACT
Energy efficiency in buildings and energy use by occupants is not an isolated relationship, but is set in a much broader social and economic context. In the process of evaluating various options, it is the case that occupant behaviour is assumed to remain essentially constant, that is independent of the scenarios being tested. Occupants can choose to use the benefits of lower heating costs to further consumption in carbon intensive activities, such as a flight for a weekend holiday overseas, or they may use it as an opportunity to shift to activities that have low or even negative carbon emissions. A key objective with energy efficient design is not just the performance obtained at construction, but the enduring gains in efficiency that last over the life of the building. Overheating or stuffiness that resulted from the central heating operation may have prompted occupants to increase the ventilation rate.
