Behind Closed Doors: What Post-occupancy Monitoring Tells Us About Home Energy Use

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is widely used to verify design intent and assess building performance, most often in commercial settings. However POE offers particular value in residential construction, especially for low-income households facing disproportionately high energy burdens. Conventional energy modeling is widely used to estimate home performance but results often diverge from actual outcomes due to occupant behavior.
 To address this gap, Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with Auburn University Rural Studio, conducted a multi-year evaluation of code-plus homes that combines homeowner surveys with utility data, and a subsample incorporates circuit-level monitoring to help distinguish occupant behavior from building performance. Findings compare energy performance in homes built with and without energy-efficient technologies, with particular attention to implications for affordability for low-income homeowners. The session will also highlight the methodological challenges of consent-based data collection and how these factors shape the feasibility and fidelity of residential energy research. Key issues include obtaining homeowner consent, ensuring privacy protections, and navigating utility-provider cooperation. Findings demonstrate both the potential and limitations of integrating consent-based utility data into evaluation efforts. Lessons from this study can inform future program design, strengthen evaluation practices, and guide residential developers and policymakers seeking rigorous, evidence-based assessments of residential energy performance.