Using a Behavioural Survey to Structure an Immersive Virtual Training for Energy and Comfort Awareness in Summer Season

It is now well known that human behaviour plays a crucial role in overall building energy consumption. Thus, for decades, researchers have explored the drivers of human-building interactions, leading to the development of various behavioural theories. Recently, an interest in developing strategies able to raise occupant awareness of energy-related behaviours is emerging. In this context, training activities are emerging to promote more energy-efficient habits. However traditional trainings are not typically based on preliminary behavioural data collection, showing historical or real-time data rather than the future consequences of occupants’ choices, and rely on displays or brochures, making them less engaging. Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) offer new opportunities to overcome these challenges. This study presents the creation and testing of a data-informed immersive virtual training activity inspired by a behavioural survey. To identify critical energy-wasting habits and the underlying drivers, 104 participants completed a survey based on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability and the Theory of Planned Behaviour frameworks. The insights obtained were used to design an immersive pilot training, in which participants could interact with virtual building systems (i.e., air conditioning, windows, and blinds) under controlled discomfortable summer conditions. The relationship between declared and observed behaviour in the IVE was examined. Discrepancies were detected in cooling set-point selection and the operation of windows when air conditioning is active. Findings demonstrate that integrating the behavioural frameworks is a promising strategy for designing effective IVE training activities, highlighting the need and the potential of immersive training experiences to address knowledge gaps and persistent habits.