Occupants' migration in residential buildings towards comfort and energy efficiency (case of traditional residential architecture in Iran)

Abstract

Recently, the role of occupants' behaviors on building energy efficiency has been much more taken into account. Occupants' migration on a building scale is a phrase on which this article focuses as one of the best occupants' responses to the climate condition for comfort and energy efficiency in traditional architecture. This paper attempts to step towards recovering the role of traditional adaptive occupants in contemporary buildings for comfort and energy efficiency. To this end, this study aimed to achieve the following objectives: (1) to summarize the socio-environmental and psychological elements of traditional housing that help occupants migrate in a building for their needs, comfort, and energy efficiency. (2) to reveal the interrelated factors affecting occupants' migration in building scale for comfort and energy efficiency. (3) to present types of occupant migration in buildings for comfort and energy efficiency. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, first, a literature review was conducted on the socio-environmental and psychological elements of traditional housing that help occupants migrate in a building for their needs, comfort, and energy efficiency. Also, the interrelated factors affecting occupants' migration in buildings and the types of occupant migration in building for comfort and energy efficiency were considered via both content analysis of available literature, and field survey methodologies. Besides, a comparison is made between the traditional style of housing and migration and the new style. Finally, the results showed that psychological, environmental, and social factors not only motivated people to move around to survive; achieve more thermal, visual, and mental comfort; but also contributed to more environmentally friendly spaces, which ultimately provide people with health, well-being, and energy efficiency. These movements and their associated contributing architectural elements were interrelated and affected one another in mutual respect. People underwent these movements in vertical and horizontal directions for their needs and energy efficiency because the space potentials provided incentives for them to do so.