Assessing the impact of energy retrofits on indoor climate conditions using mixed effects models: methodology and R implementation

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dc.contributor.authorMishra, Asit Kumar
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programe
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-15T14:23:01Z
dc.date.available2026-09-15T14:23:01Z
dc.date.issued2026-05-29
dc.description.abstractEnergy retrofit interventions have become increasingly critical as building sectors worldwide pursue decarbonization targets and improved energy efficiency. However, establishing robust causal inference about retrofit impacts on indoor climate conditions remains challenging due to confounding variables including outdoor climate fluctuations and occupant behavior. This paper presents a methodological framework for analyzing pre- and post-retrofit indoor climate data using linear mixed effects (LME) models, which explicitly account for building-level variability while controlling for environmental and behavioral factors. The approach is demonstrated using a case study analyzing partial pressure of water vapor in Irish residential homes before and after energy retrofit interventions. The analysis incorporates standardized coefficients to assess relative importance of predictive factors and employs model parsimony through stepwise removal of non-significant terms. Complete R code is provided to facilitate adaptation by other researchers. Our results demonstrate that LME models provide unbiased estimates of retrofit effects while avoiding aggregation bias that plague simpler analyses. This paper serves as both methodological reference and practical guide for practitioners seeking to rigorously evaluate building retrofit effectiveness across diverse indoor climate parameters.en
dc.description.sponsorshipEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program|101034345
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent26
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid560
dc.identifier.authororcidMishra, Asit Kumar§0000-0001-6489-6895
dc.identifier.citationMishra, A K 2026, 'Assessing the impact of energy retrofits on indoor climate conditions using mixed effects models: methodology and R implementation', Atmosphere, vol. 17, no. 6, 560, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos17060560
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/atmos17060560
dc.identifier.endpage26
dc.identifier.issn1598-3560
dc.identifier.issued6
dc.identifier.journaltitleAtmosphere
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19256
dc.identifier.volume17
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105042724562
dc.rights© 2026, the Author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectBuilding performance
dc.subjectEnergy retrofit
dc.subjectIndoor climate
dc.subjectMixed effects models
dc.subjectOpen-source coding
dc.subjectStatistical models
dc.subject[PublicHealth]
dc.titleAssessing the impact of energy retrofits on indoor climate conditions using mixed effects models: methodology and R implementationen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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