People spend the majority of theirlife time inside buildings, which
implies a large demand of energy in order to satisfy occupational
activities as well as thermal comfort.Fig. 1shows the 2015 estimated
total energy consumption (includes electricity related losses) associated to the residential end-use sector for the U.S. and countries of
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) and non-OECD countries[1]. Data is given on a relative basis
to the world consumption, as well as the national consumption when
compared to the other end-use sectors (commercial, industrial,
transportation). At the national level, the U.S. residential sector
consumes 21%, which is higher than the reference value of any of
the groups (world, OECD, and non-OECD). On the other hand, from
Fig. 1, it can also be noted that the residential sector of the U.S.
represents 17% of the world's residential energy consumption.