User control of adaptive facades: Observations from case studies on users' interaction

Many factors influence user control of adaptive facades. Depending on the façade technology's nature, users objectives can be competing with comfort requirements or energy-saving objectives. In practice, this causes conflicts and end up in low user satisfaction and interaction. Despite the importance of user interactive feedback, most control strategies rely on regulated feedback based on temperature or illuminance sensors and model-based control strategies. There are almost no practical approaches to balance energy efficiency targets and at the same time empower users allowing them to personalize the control of adaptive facades. This presentation shows observations from different case studies with dynamic solar shading and chromogenic glazing facades to understand this gap. Our post-occupancy evaluations in office buildings dataset is analyzed to define and compare the common control strategies and evaluate users' interaction with dynamic facades. The presentation suggests clustering adaptive facades users according to the usage intensity and preferences patterns. The presentation provides insights and recommendations about the importance of stimulating overriding feedback features for adaptive facades.