Furthermore, single-sided ventilation can only reach the rooms with windows. A successful low-energy adaptive thermal comfort design needs a robust integration of construction, enclosure, active systems and technologies, and controls. Low- energy technologies can help expand the individual comfort zone. For example, ceiling fans can raise the comfort zone by 1.5°C to 2°C, depending on their speed. Furthermore, low-energy local and personal heating or cooling devices allow more effective personal heating and cooling when needed, while enabling larger variations of room and house temperatures17 . However, the thermal effectiveness and energy efficiency of these technologies have not been tested in residential applications. CONCLUSIONS We are inherently adaptive at home. Designing thermally comfortable, low-energy homes involves creating adaptive environments that are capable of regulating temperatures within the limits of thermal personal adaptation of the intended occupants, while providing sufficient opportunities for technological adaptation to let occupants expand their comfort zone as needed. Otherwise, uncomfortable dwellers will feel compelled to override the design intent for thermal environmental control by setting the thermostat to unreasonably high/low temperatures, using energy- intensive local heaters, installing window air conditioners, opening windows when conditions are not favourable, etc. Thermal comfort analyses based on well-established methods implemented in comfort standards provide a suitable benchmarking reference to evaluate design alternatives for comfort. Continuous efforts are needed to collect local subjective feedback from dwellers on their needs, expectations, satisfaction, use and maintenance of their homes; together with objective monitoring of building environmental and energy data; and correlate these with demographic data and building typologies and vintages. In parallel, awareness and education campaigns are also needed for households to learn the impact of their thermal comfort behaviours on energy consumption. The socio-technical approach outlined above to low-energy residential thermal comfort can in turn become a platform for the development of novel systems and technologies and their integration into buildings to provide increased opportunities for low- energy technological thermal adaptation and increased satisfaction of dwellers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work has been performed within the framework of the International Energy Agency – Energy in Buildings and Communities Program (IEA-EBC) Annex69: Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings (www.iea-ebc.org, annex69. org). Funding for this research project has been provided by BC Housing. The support of BC Housing is greatly appreciated. REFERENCES 1.  Nicol F. (2017). Symposium: Perception of thermal comfort and pain – are we assessing their dynamics right? Heidelberg, Germany. 2.  Nicol J.F. 2016. Adaptive thermal comfort in domestic buildings. Proceedings of the 9th Windsor Conference – Making Comfort Relevant, Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, UK. 3.  Hansen A.R, Gram-Hanssen K., and Knudsen H.N. (2018). How building design and technologies influence heat- related habits, Building Research and Information, Roudledge, 46:1, 83-98. 4.  Zhou Q. (2016). Design versus actual performance in green buildings, Master of Applied Science Thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, BC, Canada. 5.  Kim J., de Dear R., Parkinson T., Candido C. (2017). Understanding patterns of adaptive comfort behaviour in the Sydney mixed-mode residential context, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 141, 274-283. 6.  Mora R. and Bean R. (2018). Thermal Comfort: Designing for People. ASHRAE Journal Vol. 60, No. 2. 7.  de Dear R., Kim J, and Parkinson T. 2018. Residential adaptive comfort in a humid subtropical climate – Sydney Australia. Energy and Buildings, Vol. 158, 1296-1305. 8.  IEA-EBC (2019). IEA-EBC Annex 69: Strategy and practice of adaptive thermal comfort in low energy buildings, Internet website: www.iea-ebc.org, annex69.org. 9.  Raw G.J. 2017. Comfort: a perception or a behaviour? Symposium “Perception of thermal comfort and pain – are we assessing their dynamics right?” Heidelberg, Germany. 10.  Rijal H.B., Humphreys M., and Nicol F. (2015). Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Japanese Houses during the Summer Season: Behavioral Adaptation and the Effect of Humidity, Buildings, MDPI, Vol. 5, 1037-1054. 11.  plan:b, (2018). plan:b arquitectos, Medellin, Colombia, Internet website: www.planbarq.com, Last accessed: Aug. 2018. 12.  Wikipedia, 2018. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Internet: https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_ needs, Last accessed: Jun. 2018. 13.  ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2017. Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. 14.  Bean R. and Mora R. (2018). Prioritizing thermal comfort for homes: A case study in using Standard 55 for a residential building, ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 60, No 9. 15. CIBSE (2015). CIBSE Guide Q: Environmental Design, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, London, UK. 16.  Shulze T. and Eicker U. (2013). Controlled natural ventilation for energy efficient buildings, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 56, 221-232. 17.  H. Zhang, E. Arens, Y. Zhai, 2015. A review of the corrective power of personal comfort systems in non-neutral ambient environments, Build. Environ. 91, 15–41. Figure 11. Master bedroom temperatures from 10 PM to 7 AM, and ATC limits in time-series FIGURE 11: MASTER BEDROOM TEMPERATURES FROM 10 P.M. TO 7 A.M., AND ATC LIMITS IN TIME-SERIES. SPRING/SUMMER 2019 23