ASHRAE Journal - November 2020 - 26

TECHNICAL FEATURE

Number of Responses

26

ASHRAE JOURNAL

ashrae.org

N OVEM BER 2020

Number of Responses

Number of Responses

FIGURE 2 Overview of participant responses to four questions.
nonintrusive occupant feedHow Comfortable Do the
How Well Do You Feel That You Understand the
back at a granular level to
Building Occupants Seem to Be?
Needs of Building Occupants?
overcome these problems
7
12
and begin to build a comfort
A.
B.
6
10
benchmark for their buildings
5
using these data to identify
8
4
where additional operational
6
3
resources should be allocated.
4
Four participants feel they
2
understand the needs of build2
1
ing occupants very well. This
0
0
interview made an effort to
Very Well
Well
Very Comfortable
Comfortable
Neither
Well
Nor
Poorly
Poorly
Neutral
Not Sure
reveal relevant anecdotes
behind this assurance. One
What are the Top Two Goals That Drive Your Operational Decisions?
10
interview participant menC.
tioned, "I received many cold
8
complaints from the occu6
pants, but the thermostat
indicated the temperature
4
was within the comfort zone.
Then, I identified the root
2
cause; it was the high indoor
0
air velocity, which made people
GHG
Occupant
Energy Cost Reducing Occupant
Energy
Ease of
uncomfortable even though
Reductions
Comfort
Savings
Complaints
Savings
Operation
the air balancing report did not
What Two Sources of Information Help You Most in Acheving These Goals?
show any abnormalities." This
Energy Management Expertise
D.
indicates that occupant feedOwn Experience
Third-Party Contractors
back sometimes can misguide
Feedback From Customer Service Team
building operators, and the
Guideline from ASHRAE Standard Regarding Setpoint Adjustment
best solution in that case is to
Building Technicians
take the help of historical data/
Utility Bills for GHG Control
Feedback/Complaint Log
BAS trend log.
BAS Trend Log/Historic Data
Only one participant
0
2
4
6
8
10
reported understanding the
Number of Responses
needs of building occupants
poorly. This participant mentioned the difficulty of
indoor environment. Also, one occupant reported, "Our
administering occupant comfort surveys as a cause; a
glass-walled buildings' heat gain or heat loss related
majority of occupants do not want to participate in the
issues are partly responsible for not achieving occusurvey.
pants' desired comfort."
Figure 2b shows that 10 participants believed the occuIt was found that the majority of interviewees believed
pants of the buildings they manage are satisfied with
that they are doing all they can given the current condithe indoor environment. The second-highest number
tion of their buildings; building operations are regarded
of participants (five) gave a neutral opinion. The interas near-optimal, and the only way to improve the buildviewees mentioned that since some of their managed
ings' performance is to make major investments such as
buildings are quite old, natural wear and tear issues
envelope retrofits. While this may be true in select cases,
are involved that cannot be solved completely through
in many cases some major underlying operational issues
operational measures alone, and this impacts buildings' may exist that cause discomfort and deteriorate energy
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ASHRAE Journal - November 2020

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