ASHRAE Journal - January 2021 - 35

TECHNICAL FEATURE

the usability of a thermostat.15 While unable to reveal
the user goal, such methods provide useful information;
however, they are largely unexploited despite their low
cost and the volumes of data available.
Usability successes and failures of existing buildings
must be generalized, synthesized and reported to the
broader community so that mistakes are not repeated
and best practices are replicated. We underline the
importance of best practices guidelines for interface
design to close this loop.
We need to increase the codiﬁcation of building
usability. Building codes and standards play a critical role
in controlling the quality of new buildings. Some aspects
of usability have become codiﬁed (e.g., the above lighting
examples), but there is signiﬁcant room for more.
We need to consider a diversity of users and ensure
that all people are able to use buildings. Consider that
programmable thermostats lost Energy Star status once
we realized they're generally too hard for the general
population to use properly.16 Critically, we need to
expand our scope and ensure that designs are usable by
people with a wide array of abilities and impairments. In
the event of power failures, usability can become a matter of life or death-particularly for the vulnerable. We
can see evidence of accessibility all around us with large,
reachable door-open buttons, but what about operable
windows, window shades, thermostats, desk fans, etc.?
We need better training on human factors and
usability for all building-related professionals.
Consider the Venn diagram in Figure 6 that shows the
skills and knowledge base of building/architectural
engineers and human factors professionals. The overlap is slim. We need professionals to ﬁll the void, and
members of each of the two existing professions should
receive some training in the other.
Ultimately, thoughtful consideration of design, usability, feedback mechanisms and physical location and
placement of building interfaces can greatly improve
occupant comfort and save energy.

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FIGURE 6 The void between building engineering and human factors.

Building Engineering
Custom
Adaptive
Owner-Centric
Comfort Model
Design
Building
Behavior
Physics
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Egress During Post-Occupancy
Emergency
Evaluations
Evacuation
Advanced Building
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Human Factors
Mass
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Production
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Void
User Interface Open Platform
For Reviews
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Accessibility
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ASHRAE Journal - January 2021

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