Differential explanations for energy management in buildings

In the field of building energy efficiency, researchers generally focus on building performance and how to enhance it. The objective of this work is to empower the building occupants by putting them in the loop of efficient energy use, supporting them to achieve their objectives by pointing out how far their actions are from an optimal set of actions. Different levels of explanation are investigated. Indicators measuring the distance to optimality are, firstly, proposed. An algorithm that generates deeper explanations is then presented to determine how changing some actions impacts comfort. The paper emphasizes the importance of explanations with a real case study. It identifies the type and level of explanations needed for different occupants. The concept of replay is presented. An occupant can replay his past actions and learn from them.