| 1. |
- Ampatzi, Eleni, et al.
(författare)
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On the linguistic challenges of cross-national research in thermal comfort: The effects of language choices in Greek and Swedish thermal perception questionnaires used in two large-scale surveys conducted two decades apart
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Windsor 2020 Resilient comfort. - 9781916187634 ; , s. 367-380
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent analyses on translations of the widely used ASHRAE scale have highlighted differences between the interpretation of thermal perception scales attributed to contextual factors. This study examines the influence of language choices for thermal perception scale anchors used in questionnaire studies. It focuses on the translations of the subjective scales for thermal perception in the Swedish and Greek languages, which differed between the two surveys. The first set of translations and datasets belongs to the Smart Controls And Thermal Comfort project whilst the second set belongs to the surveys conducted within the framework of the International Energy Agency - Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 69 “Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings”. This paper presents the findings of a comparative analysis between the two datasets in relation to the wording of the scales and the resulting category widths. The method of successive categories is used to estimate the psychological widths of the scale categories in order to examine the scales’ behaviour. The paper discusses linguistic and climatic factors that may influence the way the translations are perceived and used.
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| 2. |
- Mahdavi, Ardeshir, et al.
(författare)
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The role of occupants in buildings’ energy performance gap: Myth or reality?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 13:6
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Buildings’ expected (projected, simulated) energy use frequently does not match actual observations. This is commonly referred to as the energy performance gap. As such, many factors can contribute to the disagreement between expectations and observations. These include, for in-stance, uncertainty about buildings’ geometry, construction, systems, and weather conditions. However, the role of occupants in the energy performance gap has recently attracted much atten-tion. It has even been suggested that occupants are the main cause of the energy performance gap. This, in turn, has led to suggestions that better models of occupant behavior can reduce the energy performance gap. The present effort aims at the review and evaluation of the evidence for such claims. To this end, a systematic literature search was conducted and relevant publications were identified and reviewed in detail. The review entailed the categorization of the studies according to the scope and strength of the evidence for occupants’ role in the energy performance gap. Moreover, deployed calculation and monitoring methods, normalization procedures, and reported causes and magnitudes of the energy performance gap were documented and evaluated. The results suggest that the role of occupants as significant or exclusive contributors to the energy performance gap is not sufficiently substantiated by evidence.
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| 3. |
- Schweiker, Marcel, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788. ; 211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- People's subjective response to any thermal environment is commonly investigated by using rating scales describing the degree of thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability. Subsequent analyses of results collected in this way rely on the assumption that specific distances between verbal anchors placed on the scale exist and that relationships between verbal anchors from different dimensions that are assessed (e.g. thermal sensation and comfort) do not change. Another inherent assumption is that such scales are independent of the context in which they are used (climate zone, season, etc.). Despite their use worldwide, there is indication that contextual differences influence the way the scales are perceived and therefore question the reliability of the scales’ interpretation. To address this issue, a large international collaborative questionnaire study was conducted in 26 countries, using 21 different languages, which led to a dataset of 8225 questionnaires. Results, analysed by means of robust statistical techniques, revealed that only a subset of the responses are in accordance with the mentioned assumptions. Significant differences appeared between groups of participants in their perception of the scales, both in relation to distances of the anchors and relationships between scales. It was also found that respondents’ interpretations of scales changed with contextual factors, such as climate, season, and language. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider context-dependent factors in interpreting and reporting results from thermal comfort studies or post-occupancy evaluations, as well as to revisit the use of rating scales and the analysis methods used in thermal comfort studies to improve their reliability.
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| 4. |
- Schweiker, Marcel, et al.
(författare)
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The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scientific data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants' interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses.
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