Regulation for comfort: an investigation of policy and practice in Australian homes
- Publisher:
- Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA)
- Publication Type:
- Conference Proceeding
- Citation:
- 2023, pp. 562-576
- Issue Date:
- 2023-12-04
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On average, 40% of energy consumed in residential buildings in Australia is expended towards space conditioning to ensure comfort and well-being of occupants. While national regulations have focused on the thermal efficiency of the building fabric, that is assessed in relation to predicted energy based on heating and cooling setpoints, less attention is paid to the actual practices and outcomes for occupants in these buildings. Previously published findings from a two-year monitoring study of 40 homes in western Sydney (by the authors) indicate that while some occupants adopted adaptive practices such as adjusting clothing and using ceiling fans before resorting to air-conditioning, a lower tolerance of ‘imperfect’ conditions and availability of air-conditioning on standby led to increased usage for others. In this paper we reflect on occupant practices as they relate to the regulatory landscape and systems such as NATHERS in Australia to investigate how thermal comfort is perceived, mandated and provided for in residential settings. We compare actual occupant practices elicited from the aforementioned study against the assumptions built into the Australian regulatory systems to identify differences. Computer-based modelling is used to study how these alternate occupancy settings impact energy, comfort and implications for the building fabric. The paper highlights the implications of rating assumptions - such as bedrooms are only occupied at night, and unrealistically low thermostat settings in winter - which are out of touch with observed and prevailing practices. The resulting underestimation of energy use has the potential to compromise the thermal performance and specifications of the building envelope by the equivalent of a one star under NATHERS. Our findings call for changes in the regulations whereby bedrooms be assessed with a night time heating set point of 18°C instead of 15°C and are also tested for comfort during the day, and that the necessary improvements to the building fabric to account for these changes are mandated
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