ABSTRACT

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) helps us complete the feedback loop in design, as it gives comprehensive information about the design and on lessons learnt for future designs. This chapter demonstrates how the preconditioning period of a co-heating test can be considered to be a dynamic heating test. The process of calibration of simulation models is demonstrated in detail in, explaining a manual method of calibration, and in, explaining an automated method of calibration using multi-objective optimisation and evolutionary computing. Co-heating tests are designed to measure overall conductive and ventilation heat loss. The objective of this type of monitoring is to determine the energy consumption, carbon emissions and comfort conditions in buildings, typically over a period of two years of occupation. The Demonstration House was unoccupied during a three-year monitoring period and was available for experimentation. Qualitative descriptions of occupants' responses are quantified by converting them into corresponding numbers and are subsequently used for various analyses.