Thermal seasonal variation and occupants' spatial behaviour in domestic spaces

Thermal comfort is essential for optimized performance of daily activities. Continuous variation in the thermal conditions of the environment influences humans' thermoregulation adaptive behaviour, in which people seek to find the most preferred places. Detecting individuals' behaviour and correlated physical adaption measures can help in enhancing the built environment and minimizing energy consumption. Occupants' behaviour in buildings has been widely investigated, focusing largely on energy consumption, however, fewer studies have examined the socio-economic aspects in domestic spaces. This study investigates the relationship between indoor thermal conditions of dwellings and occupants' adaptive behaviour in response to thermal seasonal variations. A field survey was conducted in a residential compound in Amman, Jordan, to detect occupants' spatial behaviour in 35 apartments in response to thermal seasonal changes. The results revealed that spatial behaviour was used as an effective adaptive thermoregulation technique, driven by socio-economic aspects. Seasonal thermal variation motivated occupants to move across their apartment seeking the most thermally preferred zones. The occupants' behaviour was based on achieving thermal satisfaction, and on their performed activity at the occupied zone. The developed model is based on family size and other family characteristics; and is proposed to optimize domestic spatial needs in apartment buildings.