High-Efficiency Building Bloopers.

Many researchers know that high-efficiency buildings typically do not get used as intended. The numbers do not add up, and occupants easily can waste energy if they do not understand how to use the building. Julia Day, assistant professor in Washington State University's School of Design and Construction, set out to learn why.

In collaboration with William O'Brien from Canada's Carteton University, Ottawa, Canada, Day published a paper in Energy Research and Social Science that explores occupant behavior in high-efficiency buildings. The research could lead to better-designed and more-efficient buildings that work for their occupants.

"I have seen people taping motion sensor light switches to keep their lights off, people placing popsicles on thermostats to turn on the heat, and even someone taping a quarter onto a window sill to reflect light onto a thermostat to turn on the AC," says Day. "People can get pretty creative, but why not design it so they can use it in the first place? We need to create environments where people can be productive."

Occupants in the various studies often showcased poor energy efficiency behavior when looking strictly at the quantitative data. However, through interviews and other qualitative methods (i.e. survey stories), the researchers could understand and explain the behaviors. For instance, the researchers found a remote weather station that had automated lights to save energy, but the lights inhibited nighttime work.

'We found out the employees would have to sit still for about 15 minutes for the lights to go out,"...