Professor with a focus on sustainable built environment and director of the Intelligent Human-Buildings Interactions lab (IHBI)
https://ihbilab.org/
My group’s research at the Intelligent Human–Buildings Interaction (IHBI) Lab focuses on two directions: equity and inclusion in the energy transition, and human–building interaction under climate and environmental extremes.
1.Equity and Inclusion in the Energy Transition.
We investigate how household needs, resources and everyday constraints shape responses to energy policies and demand response, particularly among older and low-income households. IHBI’s immersive virtual environment and physical climate chamber allow participants to adjust heating and appliance use under effect-based tariffs and dynamic pricing while experiencing the thermal consequences of their decisions. Experiments and interviews inform household profiles, which are extended using large language models (LLMs) and incorporated into agent-based models to analyse adaptation and the distribution of costs and benefits across policy scenarios. This approach connects individual decisions and constraints with wider societal outcomes, informing energy policy and demand-response design that recognises household diversity, protects comfort, health and affordability, and advances a fair and inclusive energy transition.
This direction is supported by the Swedish Energy Agency project Equity and Inclusion in the Energy Transition: Household Adaptation to Sweden’s New Effect-based Tariff (P2025-04307) and the Familjen Kamprads stiftelse project Empowering Elderly Households in the Energy Transition: Safeguarding Comfort, Health, and Affordability under Effect-Based Tariffs.
2.Human–Building Interaction under Climate Extremes.
We investigate how building characteristics and occupant differences jointly shape vulnerability and resilience to heatwaves, particularly in northern, cold-climate housing. We synchronise measurements from electroencephalography (EEG), and wearable physiological sensors with behavioural observations and subjective assessments. Controlled repeated-measures experiments compare the same participants across thermally neutral, heat-exposure and adaptation conditions, enabling causal analysis of how indoor heat and mitigation measures affect thermal comfort, physiological strain and psychological well-being. The aim is to establish which measures work, for whom and under which conditions, providing evidence for climate adaptation that protects health and supports older adults ageing at home.
This direction draws on the Formas project Ageing at Home During Heatwaves in Northern Sweden: Protecting Mental Well-being through Evidence-Based Indoor Climate Adaptation (2026-01293). The experimental approach builds on the Formas project Intelligent Human-Buildings Interactions Lab: Identify, Quantify and Guide Energy-saving Behavior at University Campus (2022-01475), which investigates interactions between building interventions, occupant behaviour and energy use.