Parametric simulations to evaluate occupants’ behavior incidence on building energy performance – A Passive House case study

The growing emphasis on resource efficiency in the building sector is impacting the way buildings are designed and operated. In heating mode, passive design strategies use solar heat gains and internal heat gains from people, lighting, and appliances to balance heat losses from transmission and ventilation. These strategies are predominantly employed in Northern European nations, where heating accounts for the majority of energy consumption. To prevent overheating during intermediate seasons and an increase in cooling demand during the summer, the adoption of these strategies in the Mediterranean area must be carefully evaluated. In addition, optimistic assumptions are frequently made during the design phase, and semi-stationary calculation methods are still widely employed. Furthermore, the impact of occupant comfort preferences and behaviour on performance is generally disregarded in the initial design phase. This study analyses the potential variability of simulated performance in a real case study building constructed in Italy in accordance with the Passive House standard. The research compares the initial design hypothesis, derived with a semi-stationary calculation tool, to a larger spectrum of data generated by parametric simulations, in accordance with a design of experiments methodology. The strategy seeks to identify potentially problematic assumptions during the preliminary design phase, thereby ensuring the robustness of energy performance evaluation in light of the implications for techno-economic optimisation and effective deployment of energy efficiency practices