OTTO: Outline of an Occupants Theory-Tailored Ontology for building performance simulation

Early building performance computing practices adopted a reductionist attitude to inclusion of occupants in simulation models. More recently, efforts have been made toward more realistic representations of occupants in simulation. The present contribution argues that high-resolution occupant models must be grounded on a more robust ontological basis, which requires, in turn, a deeper theoretical understanding of the relevant domain, that is human requirements and behavior. To this end, a pragmatic theory of occupants' control-oriented actions in buildings is outlined. Furthermore, this high-level theory's relevance for ontological developments is exemplified via a derivative representational scheme, labeled as an occupants theory-tailored ontology ("OTTO").