The potential of smart home for comfort and energy use optimization in residential buildings

The design of a residential building to maximize comfort and energy savings is nowadays anchored in technical guidelines, although it is clear that individual preferences and subjective experiences play an undeniable role. Starting from this conflict, this study investigates the potential of new data sources (Internet of Things) and smart home technology as tools to better investigate and understand the real needs and preferences of individual inhabitants and, at the same time, to help the building adapt and respond to its occupants. In many countries, environmental energy monitoring systems for residential buildings remain unregulated and are not mandatory, a situation attributed to the high costs, perceived invasiveness, limited flexibility, and ambiguous benefits to the end-users; consequently, even in optimal scenarios, their application is confined primarily to building managers rather than the actual occupants. With smart homes, the ability to collect data and information has exploded, as the number of low-cost sensors now available on the market. This has also led to widespread automation, with the ability not only to monitor but also to "control" the built environment. Alongside these advancements, however, lies the risk of accumulating vast amounts of data that are unmanageable and useless, lacking tangible significance. Concerns over privacy and loss of control over one's private living space are raising, coupled with skepticism regarding the true efficacy of these systems. To truly optimize building performance, particularly within the residential sector, it is imperative to first gain an in-depth understanding of the intricate interplay between the built environment and its occupants, select the right aspect to optimize, and then provide the necessary information for optimization to stakeholders. Therefore, some questions arise: Is it possible, in the right situations, to use this less invasive and less expensive technology in place of more structured monitoring systems, the same ones also used in academic research? Is it a reliable technology? Can a monitoring system bring real benefits to the inhabitant and the building in terms of energy savings and quality of life improvement? Can it be adapted to the specific preferences and needs of both the building manager and the occupant? The present study begins by examining the concepts of indoor comfort and energy use in residential settings from a new perspective, incorporating a systematic literature review that delves into socio-cultural aspects. Adopting an interdisciplinary “learning by doing” approach, it deepens the topics of user-centered monitoring, the human-building interactions, and the wide-ranging resources and potential challenges that come with domestic environments. To concretely answer the theoretical and technical questions raised, the study paired its theoretical analysis with the design and prototyping from scratch of a plug-and-play, low-cost, and non-invasive monitoring and automation system called MOQA, which leverages smart home technologies. This process facilitated a comprehensive understanding of the data lifecycle  from its production and collection to its management, presentation to key stakeholders, and final evaluation by the end-users  essentially assessing its utility. The deployment of MOQA across different case studies, alongside its evaluation against more conventional monitoring systems, enabled an examination of the system’s acceptance, functionality, user interaction, stability, and overall performance. These experiences, despite some limitations, highlighted the user's pivotal role in effectively utilizing and truly benefiting from these systems. Support from individuals with in-depth knowledge of the system and its benefits is crucial, leading to satisfaction even among people who were initially skeptical. Over time, the system proved to be stable, accurate, accepted and, eventually, integrated into daily routines. Prioritizing hands-on solutions over theoretical debates about comfort and energy norms, the smart home system is perceived, in a personal parallel with the theory of salutogenesis in architecture, as a tool capable of connecting the inhabitant with the resources available in the building. Advancement in the spontaneous and beneficial exchange between humans and the environments they live in, spanning built and natural, leads to an uplift in the quality of life. Overall, the doctoral study contributed to exploring the potential of smart homes by merging the perspectives of research and users and broadening the strictly economic and business vision currently associated with the topic. Scientific, industrial, social, and environmental implications were addressed, suggesting future lines of research.