Building and Environment Journal awards 2024 Best Paper to building science team
A team of CED researchers affiliated with the Center for the Built Environment received the 2024 Best Paper award from the Building and Environment Journal. The paper, “Causal thinking: Uncovering hidden assumptions and interpretations of statistical analysis in building science,” was co-authored by CED’s Ruiji Sun, Stefano Schiavon, Gail Brager, Edward Arens, and Hui Zhang, with Thomas Parkinson and Chenlu Zhang.
Does the temperature in a space affect thermal sensation (hot, cold, or neutral), or does the thermal sensation people feel influence the temperature in a space due to their actions, or both? This simple question may have significant implications for building energy efficiency and occupant comfort.
The paper explores the causal relationships in two linear regression approaches used in thermal comfort research. While data-driven statistical methods — ranging from simple regression analysis to other complex machine learning algorithms — are gaining traction, the paper stresses the importance of scrutinizing the causal assumptions underlying these methods. The authors highlight the importance of integrating causal thinking into correlation-based statistical methods, and more detailed and comprehensive data collection within actual buildings. This helps more accurately quantify the causal relationships between building occupants and their physical environment.