This book is the first to comprehensively cover research methods for building occupant
behavior. As this is of growing importance for building design and for building performance
optimization the book aims to provide a sound scientific basis for experimental studies in
this field. It introduces the reader to fundamental questions about the topic and unfolds the
different fields related to occupant actions and comfort. This is followed by more general
questions about developing an appropriate research method and experimental design. A
comprehensive overview of sensors for monitoring environmental and also behavioral and
action-related quantities helps to set up an experiment. In this context different
experimental environments and data collection methods (in-situ laboratories surveys) are
introduced and discussed in terms of their suitability for the respective research question.
Furthermore data management and reporting is addressed. The book concludes with fundamental
challenges in conducting occupant studies with chapters on ground truth ethics and privacy.
