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1
D'Oca, Simona, H. Burak Gunay, Sara Gilani, and William O'Brien. "Critical review and illustrative examples of office occupant modelling formalisms." Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 40, no. 6 (February 6, 2019): 732–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143624419827468.
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It is widely understood that occupants can have a significant impact on building performance. Accordingly, the field has benefited extensively from research efforts in the past decade. However, the methods and terminology involved in modelling occupants in buildings remains fragmented across a large number of studies. This fragmentation represents a major obstacle to those who intend to join in this research endeavor as well as for the convergence and standardization of methods. To address this issue, this paper investigates occupant modelling methods for the key domains of electric lighting, blinds, operable windows, thermostats, plug loads, and occupancy. In the reviewed literature, five broad categories of occupant model formalisms were identified: schedules, Bernoulli models, discrete-time Markov models, discrete-event Markov models, and survival models. Illustrative examples were provided from two independent datasets to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of these model forms. It was shown that Markov models are suitable to represent occupants' adaptive behaviors, while survival models are suitable to represent occupancy, non-adaptive behaviors, and infrequently executed adaptive behaviors, such as the blinds opening behavior. Practical application: The engineering application of the occupant modelling formalisms that are critically reviewed in this paper is that these models are highly beneficial for incorporating occupants' presence and behaviors into building design and control. Building design can be improved significantly regarding energy use and occupant comfort when the most suitable occupant models are implemented in simulation-aided building design process. Ultimately, like for any modelling domain, the most suitable model is dependent on the modelling objective (e.g. optimizing passive design, equipment sizing), building type and size, occupant-related domain (e.g. occupancy, window-opening behavior), and climate zones. Furthermore, there is great potential in improving occupant comfort and energy savings of existing buildings when occupants' presence and interactions with buildings' systems and components are predicted accurately using occupant models.
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Zalejska-Jonsson, Agnieszka. "Parameters contributing to occupants’ satisfaction." Facilities 32, no. 7/8 (April 28, 2014): 411–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-03-2013-0021.
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Purpose – The aims of this paper is to investigate the overall satisfaction of occupants of green and conventional residential buildings and their perception of indoor environment quality (IEQ) and to study factors that may cause occupants’ dissatisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a survey sent to occupants of comparable green and conventional multi-family buildings. The difference in responses between occupants of green and conventional buildings was analysed using Mann–Whitney (rank sum) test. The ordered logistic models were applied to the data to test whether the overall satisfaction changes depending on the level of acceptance of indoor environment quality and whether the building environmental profile and the apartment tenure affect occupant satisfaction. Findings – The results show that both categories of occupants are very satisfied with their apartments and that there is no statistically significant difference between the stated overall satisfaction of occupants living in green and conventional buildings, although a difference was found in the acceptance level for thermal and sound quality. The research highlights the importance of occupant feedback, user-friendly technical installations and the ability to control indoor environment. This knowledge is important for designers, engineers and developers alike in enabling them to improve dwelling quality and minimize post-occupancy problems. Research limitations/implications – It was not possible to include physical measurements of IEQ parameters; the analysis is based only on occupants’ responses, which may carry a certain subjectivity. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the understanding of IEQ from occupant perspective and to knowledge on green building performance.
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Proulx, Guylène, and Joelle Pineau. "Differences in the Evacuation Behaviour of Office and Apartment Building Occupants." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 40, no. 16 (October 1996): 825–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/154193129604001607.
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An experiment was designed to observe evacuation times and occupant movement in two office buildings during a simulated fire emergency and to compare these results with previous studies of evacuation drills in apartment buildings. The evacuation drills were recorded using videocameras located throughout the buildings. The results were analyzed with respect to occupant behaviour, occupants' time to start to evacuate, occupants' time to reach an outside exit, and the occupants' speed while travelling in the stairways. A comparison of the results from this office buildings study with previous studies involving evacuations of midrise and highrise apartment buildings reveals many interesting differences. The physical organization of the buildings, evacuation strategies, and the occupants' characteristics, behaviour and movement are discussed. The study showed that apartment building occupants delay their evacuation more than office building occupants, either by a long preparation time or because they cannot hear the alarm from their apartments. Travelling speeds are slowest in midrise apartment buildings where the population is more diverse and includes children, elderly people and occupants with limitations. The more structured evacuation plans, the presence of fire wardens and the easier access to fire safety information also contribute to the efficiency of evacuation procedures in office buildings.
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Lee, Seungtaek, Wai Oswald Chong, and Jui-Sheng Chou. "Examining the Relationships between Stationary Occupancy and Building Energy Loads in US Educational Buildings–Case Study." Sustainability 12, no. 3 (January 24, 2020): 893. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12030893.
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Building energy systems are designed to handle both permanent and temporary occupants. Permanent occupants are considered the base energy load while temporary occupants are considered a temporary or additional load. Temporary occupancy is potentially the most difficult to design as the number of temporary occupants varies more significantly than permanent occupants. This case study was designed to investigate the effect of occupancy on energy loads, i.e. the relationship between occupancy and building energy loads. This study estimated the building occupancy by using existing network infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet based on the assumption that the number of Wi-Fi connections and the wired Ethernet traffic were used as a proxy for total and stationary occupancy. The relationships were then examined using correlations and regression analyses. The results showed the following: 1. Stationary occupancy was successfully estimated using the network infrastructure; 2. There was a linear relationship between electricity use and total occupancy (and, thus, the use of network infrastructure); 3. Permanent occupants generated a higher impact on the electricity load than the temporary occupants; 4. There was a logarithmic relationship between electricity use and the Ethernet data traffic (a proxy of permanent occupants); and 5. The statistical and qualitative analyses indicated that there was no significant relationship between occupancy and thermal loads, such as cooling and heating loads.
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Azis, Shazmin Shareena Ab, Nur Amira Aina Zulkifli, and Nur Hannani Ab Rahman. "Influential factors to occupy green residential building among green building occupants." Environmental and Toxicology Management 1, no. 1 (April 30, 2021): 7–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.33086/etm.v1i1.2021.
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Green building has been proven having higher occupancy rate than conventional building. The occupancy rate of ENERGY STAR and LEED-certified green office building are 8% to 18% higher than conventional office building. Previous research has proved that occupants prefer to occupy green office building due to various green benefits. However, most of these researches were conducted on green office building. Therefore, this study is motivated to identify the influential factors for occupants to occupy green residential building. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors that influence occupants to occupy green certified residential building. 75 questionnaires were distributed among occupants of green certified residential building namely Molek Pine 4 and Ponderosa Lakeside Apartment in Johor Bahru. The results were analysed using frequency analysis. Location and good environment quality are the most significant factors that influence occupants to occupy the green certified residential building in Johor Bahru. This research is noteworthy for property industry players especially property developer in guiding the direction of green residential building development in accordance with occupants’ and market preferences.
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Proulx, Guylène. "The Time Delay to Start Evacuating upon Hearing a Fire Alarm." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 38, no. 14 (October 1994): 811–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/154193129403801403.
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An experiment was designed to observe the evacuation drills of occupants in four mid-rise apartment buildings. Each mid-rise building contained approximately 100 apartments, with 1 to 4 persons per apartment. All printed fire safety procedures stated that upon hearing the fire alarm all occupants should leave the building or move to an area of refuge, which means the movement of 100 to 200 people for each drill. The buildings chosen for this project were characterized as mixed-occupancy buildings; that is, they included adults, children, seniors and people with handicaps. Occupants received a memo that an evacuation drill would take place during the upcoming week. The evacuations were planned and carried out with the full participation of the local fire departments. The evacuation drills were recorded on video-cameras located throughout the buildings. This paper presents the results regarding the time at which each occupant started to evacuate which varies between 30 seconds to over 24 minutes. Most occupants who heard the fire alarm started their evacuation approximately 2 1/2 minutes after the alarm activation. The impact of the alarm system, the location of alarm-bells, training and pre-evacuation actions are discussed.
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Gerges, Michael, Peter Demian, and Zulfikar Adamu. "Customising Evacuation Instructions for High-Rise Residential Occupants to Expedite Fire Egress: Results from Agent-Based Simulation." Fire 4, no. 2 (April 24, 2021): 21. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire4020021.
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As the possibility of safe escape is one of the most crucial aspects of a building’s fire safety features, understanding of human behaviour under fire conditions is important for a successful evacuation. Although most of today’s buildings are equipped with fire safety systems, a fire can still occur at anytime and anywhere in a building and have devastating consequences. In the last decade, researchers and practitioners have used information technology to assist with fire safety design and emergency management. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an exemplar process whose underpinning digital technology has been helpful for fire safety design, simulation, and analysis, but there is a lack of research on how BIM-based models combined with agent-based simulations can help improve evacuation via effective navigation and wayfinding in high-rise residential buildings. Customising evacuation instructions based on BIM, simulation results and occupant location, and delivery of these bespoke instructions to occupants’ smartphones during a fire emergency is relatively novel and research is needed to realise the potential of this approach. Therefore, this study investigates how customised evacuation instructions delivered to each occupant in a high-rise residential building could result in a faster evacuation during a fire incident. The research adopted a case study building and used Pathfinder (agent-based evacuation simulation software) to simulate evacuation from this eleven-floor high-rise residential building in Cairo, Egypt. Constraining evacuees (simulated agents in Pathfinder) to take particular exit routes was used as a proxy for delivering customised evacuation instructions to actual evacuees. Simulation results show that, in general, allowing the use of lifts for the benefit of disabled occupants could lead to their misuse by able-bodied occupants; evacuees would attempt to use the first visible point of exit regardless of how crowded it is. With optimally customised instructions, the evacuation time was, on average, 17.6 min (almost 50%) shorter than when the occupant’s choice of egress route was simulated based on standard path planning factors such as route length, nearby crowds and visible hazards. With evacuation instructions sent via smartphones, occupants could exit more rapidly via alternative routes. Such bespoke instructions were shown to reduce the adverse effects of crowdedness and uneven distribution of occupants along vertical and horizontal evacuation routes on evacuation time.
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Zapata-Lancaster, Gabriela. "Thermal comfort practices in non-domestic buildings within the organisational context." Facilities 38, no. 1/2 (August 29, 2019): 114–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-01-2019-0010.
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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the thermal comfort practices in four non-domestic buildings and explores how the organisational context affects the actions and practices of occupants and facilities managers. Design/methodology/approach The study applied qualitative methods and post-occupancy evaluation methodologies to investigate the thermal practices in four case studies. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies was deployed, namely, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation and monitoring studies of building performance. Findings The concept “distributed agency” was applied to analyse the thermal comfort practices in non-domestic buildings. This concept helped to illustrate everyday actions by occupants and facilities managers in relation to the organisational context. Occupants’ actions and building management practices could be affected by the organisation norms and context leading to problems and dissatisfaction with indoor thermal conditions. Research limitations/implications This study is based on a small number of case studies and it is exploratory. Extensive monitoring data were not available. However, the research identified the thermal conditions and occupants’ satisfaction levels as background where actions to achieve thermal comfort and facilities manager’s practices took place. Practical implications The study suggests the need to examine in greater depth how the organisational goals and individual goals could be linked to support specific building performance targets. Social implications The paper advocates for the application of multidisciplinary approaches to study the occupant dimension of building performance. It suggests the need to develop a nuanced understanding of how occupants pursue comfort as active agents who interact with the built environment. Originality/value The study has applied social practice theory to consider the influence of the organisation on thermal comfort practices in non-domestic buildings; considering the perspectives of building occupants and facilities managements within the organisational context.
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Kamaruzzaman, Syahrul Nizam, Charles O. Egbu, Norhayati Mahyuddin, Emma Marinie Ahmad Zawawi, Shirley Jin Lin Chua, and Nur Farhana Azmi. "The impact of IEQ on occupants’ satisfaction in Malaysian buildings." Indoor and Built Environment 27, no. 5 (June 13, 2017): 715–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1420326x16689493.
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This paper focuses on the importance of occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in buildings as well as the effect of indoor environmental quality towards occupants’ satisfaction. This research applied post-occupancy evaluation as a method to indicate the building occupants’ needs, their satisfaction and comfort level. The research is based on a case study approach whereby a questionnaire survey was conducted among 25 organizations involved in managing office buildings. A total of 115 questionnaires were returned for evaluation of occupants’ overall satisfaction from aspects of indoor environmental quality in these buildings and to determine the occupants’ satisfaction level within these buildings. The findings revealed that indoor environment factors that could contribute to occupants’ satisfaction consists of lighting, air quality and aesthetic perception. These classifications were made based on the factor analysis done with 22 attributes of the indoor environment. The majority of occupants are satisfied with their health conditions and do not face any serious health problems. However, occupants highlighted that some environmental conditions, health effects, air movement, ventilation and air freshness are important criteria for their satisfaction and comfort. This study provides insights into how occupants perceive their indoor environment and comfort, and identify problems that could arise in buildings.
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Asojo, Abimbola, Hoa Vo, and Suyeon Bae. "Sustainable Post-Occupancy Evaluation Survey (SPOES): An Approach to Human Factors in Minnesota State-funded Buildings." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 64, no. 1 (December 2020): 1120–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1071181320641269.
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An interdisciplinary team from the Interior Design (ID) and the Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR), University of Minnesota developed a tool to inform sustainable design practices in state-funded buildings. The internet-based questionnaire called Sustainable Post Occupancy Evaluation (SPOES) provides both quantitative and qualitative analysis of building occupants’ satisfaction, health, and wellbeing via 12 indoor environmental quality (IEQ) categories. Since 2009, SPOES has provided business and building owners, architects, interior designers, facility managers of 60 state-funded workplace, classroom and residence hall buildings IEQ scores of occupants’ satisfaction to help them better engage building occupants and bring employee health and wellbeing to the forefront of their practices. This presentation will cover the SPOES questionnaire and report formats, results from workplace, classroom, residence hall buildings, and implications for evaluating the impacts of building designs on occupants’ health and wellbeing.
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Zhao, Yuanhong, and Qingping Yang. "Development of an ontology-based semantic building post-occupancy evaluation framework." International Journal of Metrology and Quality Engineering 12 (2021): 19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/ijmqe/2021019.
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Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a systematic method to evaluate the actual building performance against the theoretical design intents after the building has been occupied for some time, to understand how the building is performing and to capture lessons learned. The POE offers an opportunity to investigate the buildings' actual performance based upon the occupants' satisfaction levels in the aspects of building overall design, indoor environmental quality, thermal comfort, etc. However, as the key part of POE, occupant satisfaction assessment (OSA) is a missing link in the building performance evaluation (BPE) domain, and there is not a systematic evaluation method for the OSA. Moreover, it is time-consuming and error-prone to conduct the OSA manually. This paper presents from the end-user's satisfaction perspective a semantic post-occupancy evaluation ontology (POEontology) to facilitate the occupant satisfaction assessment of buildings, with the ultimate aim of optimizing building operation guidelines, and improving occupants' use experience quality and well-being. An ontology-based knowledge model has been developed to capture the fragmented knowledge of building use satisfaction assessment in the POE domain, with the benchmarking evaluation rules encoded in Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) to enable automatic rule-based rating and reasoning. This ontology model also enables the effective OSA-related knowledge retrieving and sharing, and promotes its implementation in the POE domain. A field study has been conducted based upon the Building Use Study (BUS) methodology to validate the proposed ontology framework.
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Lee, Jong-Won, Deuk-Woo Kim, Seung-Eon Lee, and Jae-Weon Jeong. "Development of a Building Occupant Survey System with 3D Spatial Information." Sustainability 12, no. 23 (November 27, 2020): 9943. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12239943.
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This paper summarizes the recent post-occupancy evaluation (POE) method studies and latest literature reviews. According to the research trends, data visualization of an occupant’s feedback is an important perspective and surveys through POE methods have provided a quick and cost-effective approach for gathering and analyzing an occupant’s feedback. Therefore, the objective of this study is to establish a web-based building occupant survey system that incorporates new approaches based on a geographic information system (GIS) tool and open-source spatial information. This paper reports the following to provide the detailed system framework: (1) development requirements from literature reviews; (2) integration of collected data and 3D (three dimensional) spatial information; (3) system processes and user-friendly functions; and (4) pilot test and data visualization. The difference between the proposed platform and existing online survey systems is that in the former the survey responses are linked to the 3D spatial information of the buildings on a map. Thus, the results provide more intuitive insights for building managers and occupants to identify specific performance issues related to the building.
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Li, Na. "Research on Comfort Performance of Green Building and Conventional Building." Applied Mechanics and Materials 312 (February 2013): 822–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.312.822.
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t has been argued that green buildings have a better indoor environmental quality than conventional buildings and that this translates into a more satisfying workplace for the building's occupants and, inturn, a more productive workforce. Assessing a building's cost effectiveness means taking into account all the costs that will be incurred during its life cycle not just development costs. People found no evidence to believe that green buildings are more comfortable than conventional building. In fact, the only difference between the buildings was that occupants of the green building were more likely to perceive their work environment as warm, and occupants who felt warm were more likely to describe their work environment as poor.
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Tam, Vivian, Laura Almeida, and Khoa Le. "Energy-Related Occupant Behaviour and Its Implications in Energy Use: A Chronological Review." Sustainability 10, no. 8 (July 26, 2018): 2635. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10082635.
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It is essential to understand how significantly occupants’ actions impact the performance of a building, as a whole, in terms of energy use. Consequently, this paper reviews the available resources on energy-related occupant behaviour and its implications in energy use in a building. A chronological review on energy-related occupant behaviour and its implications in energy use has been conducted. As a main existing gap, it was identified by researchers the difference between real energy performance and the one that is predicted during the design stage of a building. The energy predicted during the design stage of a building may be over twice the energy used in the operation stage. Buildings are one of the most energy intensive features in a country. They are affected by the interaction and correlation of several different variables, such as: its physical characteristics, technical systems, equipment, occupants, etc. Therefore, buildings are considered to be complex systems that require a careful and intensive analysis. Moreover, one of the key variables impacting real building energy use is occupant behaviour. The way occupants behave and their motivations are some of the main aspects that need to be considered in a building life-cycle.
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Tezel, Ecem, and Heyecan Giritli. "Understanding pro-environmental workplace behavior: a comparative study." Facilities 37, no. 9/10 (July 1, 2019): 669–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-12-2017-0134.
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Purpose This paper aims to fulfill the gap in existing knowledge of determinants of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in the workplace and the influence of sustainability certificates on occupants’ PEBs in workplace settings. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey with a total of 95 respondents from both certified and noncertified office buildings was conducted. Two independent sample comparisons were executed to understand the influence of sustainable building certificates on occupants’ environmental values, beliefs, awareness and PEBs. Findings Ecocentric value, belief and awareness were found as the predictors of pro-environmental workplace behavior. Certified office occupants showed higher awareness about buildings’ environmentally oriented characteristics. Despite higher awareness, certified office occupants revealed less PEB compared to those who work in noncertified office buildings. Originality/value This study determined the influencing factors on PEBs in workplaces and PEB differences between certified and noncertified building occupants. Less PEBs of occupants in certified offices signify the misperception of individuals about sustainable buildings and the need for more informative training about sustainability issues in the society. This result also draws academic attention to sustainable building evaluation practices and provides certain insights for more occupant integrated evaluation alternative for sustainable buildings.
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Mosiman, Cory, Gregor Henze, and Herbert Els. "Development and Application of Schema Based Occupant-Centric Building Performance Metrics." Energies 14, no. 12 (June 13, 2021): 3513. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14123513.
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Occupant behavior can significantly influence the operation and performance of buildings. Many occupant-centric key performance indicators (KPIs) rely on having accurate counts of the number of occupants in a building, which is very different to how occupancy information is currently collected in the majority of buildings today. To address this gap, the authors develop a standardized methodology for the calculation of percent space utilization for buildings, which is formulated with respect to two prevalent operational data schemas: the Brick Schema and Project Haystack. The methodology is scalable across different levels of spatial granularity and irrespective of sensor placement. Moreover, the methods are intended to make use of typical occupancy sensors that capture presence level occupancy and not counts of people. Since occupant-hours is a preferable metric to use in KPI calculations, a method to convert between percent space utilization and occupant-hours using the design occupancy for a space is also developed. The methodology is demonstrated on a small commercial office space in Boulder, Colorado using data collected between June 2018 and February 2019. A multiple linear regression is performed that shows strong evidence for a relationship between building energy consumption and percent space utilization.
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Trofimova, Polina, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Wu Deng, and Craig Hancock. "Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Performance in a Zero Carbon Building." Sustainability 13, no. 2 (January 12, 2021): 667. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13020667.
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Maintaining a comfortable indoor environment throughout the year makes up the main part of energy consumption caused by people’s use of buildings. In recent years, China has started to integrate sustainable technologies into green building design and construction. However, some post-occupancy reports on certified buildings revealed that such integration has been perceived to prioritize energy savings over comfort. This paper aims to investigate the ability of the first Chinese zero carbon building to maintain comfortable and healthy indoor conditions in the summer season. The research implements a combination of occupant survey and on-site measurements to evaluate the occupants’ perception of the indoor environment quality (IEQ) and benchmark the measurements against relevant standards. The results from this study show that the mean summer indoor temperature was 0.9 °C above the standard limit, while on average, occupants gave a positive score to the indoor thermal environment. High contentment with the building acoustics was reported by users and supported by sensors measurements meeting the standard values. The illuminance levels were mainly maintained high with the exception of the light in one of the studied zones. Analyzing the data on occupants experiencing sick building syndromes revealed that 45.8% of respondents experienced at least one of the symptoms.
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Aigbavboa, Clinton, and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala. "PERFORMANCE OF A GREEN BUILDING'S INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ON BUILDING OCCUPANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA." Journal of Green Building 14, no. 1 (January 2019): 131–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.14.1.131.
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Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is important to the health, comfort, and well-being of building occupants. Unsatisfactory IEQ is associated with a number of phenomena, most notably, sick building syndrome (SBS), building-related illnesses (BRIs), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), which have major negative effects on productivity. However, green building investors (owners) are not only concerned about reducing the negative impact of their buildings on the environment, but also about the potentially negative impact green buildings can have on their employees' productivity. This research sets out to address, through a questionnaire survey in South Africa, what constitutes the determinants of green building occupants' satisfaction with the IEQ elements of a green building and the health implications of a building's IEQ on the building occupants. Data analysis (involving a one-sample t-test) reveals some interesting findings in regard to what constitutes the determinants of green building occupants' satisfaction with the IEQ elements and the health implications of the IEQ elements of a five-star green rated building in South Africa. Findings from the survey revealed that the occupants of the building were not satisfied with the green building's IEQ, most especially the ineffectiveness of blocking natural and artificial lighting. Also, it was revealed that the IEQ with particular reference to the noise level and ventilation of the space has some serious health implications for the building occupants. The occupants' evaluation revealed that the major health issues from which they suffer include fatigue, headache, common cold, coughing, and influenza, and these affect their productivity and performance. Since building occupants are a rich source of information about IEQ assessment and its effect on productivity, the study can be used to assess the performance of green buildings, identify areas needing improvement, and provide useful feedback to designers and operators about specific aspects of green building design features and operating strategies that need improvement. This study adds to the body of knowledge on green buildings' IEQ performance.
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Levermore, Geoffrey. "Maxmaladaptation, occupant behaviour and energy performance gap." Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 42, no. 5 (March 15, 2021): 533–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01436244211000990.
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Occupant behaviour is a key factor in the energy consumption and performance of a building. However, it is difficult to model and simulate hence there is often a mismatch between the predicted and actual performance of a new or refurbished buildings and surprising variations in the consumptions of similar and identical buildings. Although environmental conditions affect people significantly, there are also non-environmental factors including how well employers manage people and how well dwelling occupants understand their controls. Rarely are these factors considered in building performance, especially commercial buildings. Poor management can lead to varying degrees of occupant maladaptation. Maladaptation taken here to mean behaviour patterns that are detrimental to the optimal functioning of the building. This paper proposes a novel concept for designers that examines the worst possible energy performance gap (“extreme” scenario testing) where the theoretical occupants do their best to make the building consume as much energy as possible. The novel concept is called “maxmaladaptation”. By considering maxmaladaptation, designers can attempt to reduce it, so reducing the energy gap. This paper briefly reviews the energy gap and social psychology and its contribution to understanding energy consumption with some examples, underlying the concept of maxmaladaptation. Practical application: Building energy performance gaps often exist because predicted design consumptions are often less than actual consumptions due to the occupants not behaving as designers expect. Using the concept of maxmaladaptation, an extreme scenario of maximum energy use by occupants, designers can design buildings to avoid unexpected energy consumption. Often the influences of occupant behaviour are not considered in detail. Social psychology gives an insight into non-environmental factors that can cause maladaptation, a constituent of maxmaladaptation.
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Bortolini, Rafaela, and Núria Forcada. "Association between Building Characteristics and Indoor Environmental Quality through Post-Occupancy Evaluation." Energies 14, no. 6 (March 17, 2021): 1659. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14061659.
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Post-occupancy evaluations are common tools used to periodically assess Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in tertiary buildings. Although the large amount of data collected from surveys contain valuable information, the influence of building characteristics on IEQ considering the different uses of the rooms and different types of occupants is rarely considered in the evaluation. This study presents an analysis of the association between building characteristics and IEQ in different building rooms (classrooms and offices) and different occupants (students and lecturers) using a post occupancy evaluation survey to 1013 occupants in 26 higher educational buildings in Spain under a Mediterranean climate. This research demonstrated that building characteristics influence IEQ perceptions of the different rooms in tertiary education buildings. The possibility of controlling the lighting, shadows or heating, ventilation air or conditioning (HVAC) systems are the most influential factors when analyzing IEQ. The findings of this research are of interest to facility managers aiming at implementing energy efficiency measures based on user-centric satisfaction or developing maintenance plans focused on IEQ enhancement.
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Uddin, Mohammad Nyme, Hsi-Hsien Wei, Hung Lin Chi, and Meng Ni. "Influence of Occupant Behavior for Building Energy Conservation: A Systematic Review Study of Diverse Modeling and Simulation Approach." Buildings 11, no. 2 (January 26, 2021): 41. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11020041.
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Energy consumption in buildings depends on several physical factors, including its physical characteristics, various building services systems/appliances used, and the outdoor environment. However, the occupants’ behavior that determines and regulates the building energy conservation also plays a critical role in the buildings’ energy performance. Compared to physical factors, there are relatively fewer studies on occupants’ behavior. This paper reports a systematic review analysis on occupant behavior and different modeling approaches using the Scopus and Science Direct databases. The comprehensive review study focuses on the current understanding of occupant behavior, existing behavior modeling approaches and their limitations, and key influential parameters on building energy conservation. Finally, the study identifies six significant research gaps for future development: occupant-centered space layout deployment; occupant behavior must be understood in the context of developing or low-income economies; there are higher numbers of quantitative occupant behavior studies than qualitative; the extensive use of survey or secondary data and the lack of real data used in model validation; behavior studies are required for diverse categories building; building information modeling (BIM) integration with existing occupant behavior modeling/simulation. These checklists of the gaps are beneficial for researchers to accomplish the future research in the built environment.
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Woods, Ruth, and Judith Thomsen. "Unboxing Buildings: Engaging with Occupants during Design, Testing and Use." Sustainability 13, no. 6 (March 15, 2021): 3201. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13063201.
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Current prioritization within EU funding sees technical requirements for sustainable buildings moving technologies closer to people’s everyday lives, thereby increasing the need for interdisciplinary research, and placing occupant engagement high on the research agenda. This is not always reflected in building research. Results are often black boxed, and occupants are offered few opportunities for participation in design and development processes. The paper considers the unintended consequences of black boxing buildings. A black box is a complex system or object which is viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs, but where knowledge of the internal workings is not required. Using an experienced-based analysis from a social science perspective, we go back and consider the controversies around black boxing the processes and results in three Norwegian building research projects. In the conclusion, we propose that some research projects should remain unboxed, making complexity visible and allowing more focus on the challenges faced by occupants. Not taking time to ask and to learn from those who will use new technical solutions hinders the design process and limits a building’s chances of achieving its sustainable potential. Designing successful building solutions requires collaboration between disciplines and occupants, encouraging an alliance between people, technology, and buildings.
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Durkin, Michael E. "Behavior of Building Occupants in Earthquakes." Earthquake Spectra 1, no. 2 (February 1985): 271–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1193/1.1585265.
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To be truly effective, earthquake hazard reduction measures must be based on a realistic appraisal of occupants' capabilities and actions during earthquakes. Studies suggest that many overly general beliefs about appropriate response can endanger rather than protect building occupants. We need to analyze occupant actions with respect to hazards posed by the seismic performance of specific building types. This paper will review the findings of recent U.S. studies, discuss the applicability of research from abroad, and summarize requirements for continued progress in this vital research area.
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Almeida, Laura, Vivian W. Y. Tam, Khoa N. Le, and Yujuan She. "Effects of occupant behaviour on energy performance in buildings: a green and non-green building comparison." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 27, no. 8 (June 26, 2020): 1939–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-11-2019-0653.
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PurposeOccupants are one of the most impacting factors in the overall energy performance of buildings, according to literature. Occupants’ behaviours and actions may impact the overall use of energy in more than 50%. In order to quantify the impact that occupant behaviour has in the use of energy, this study simulated interactions between occupants and the systems present in two actual buildings. The main aim was to compare the deviations due to occupant behaviour with the actual conditions and energy use of the two buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe buildings used as a case study in this research were green buildings, rated according to the Australian Green Star certification system as a 6-star and a non-rated building. The two buildings are university buildings with similar characteristics, from Western Sydney University, in Sydney, Australia. A comparison was performed by means of building simulations among the use of energy in both buildings, aiming to understand if the green rating had any impact on the energy related to occupant behaviour. Therefore, to represent the actual buildings' conditions, the actual data related with climate, geometry, systems, internal loads, etc. were used as input variables in the simulation models of the green and the non-rated buildings. Both models were calibrated and validated, having as target the actual monitored use of electricity.FindingsOccupants were categorized according to their levels of energy use as follows: saving, real and intensive energy users. Building simulations were performed to each building, with varying parameters related with lighting, plug loads, windows/doors opening, shading and air conditioning set points. Results show that occupant behaviour may impact the buildings' energy performance in a range of 72% between the two extremes. There is no significant relationship between the green rating and the way occupants behave in terms of the energy use.Originality/valueThis study intends to show the impact of different categories of occupant behaviour in the overall energy performance of two university buildings, a non-rated and a green-rated building, having as reference an actual representation of the buildings. Additionally, the study aims to understand the main differences between a green-rated and a non-rated building when accounting with the previous categories.
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Brown, Craig, and Mark Gorgolewski. "Assessing occupant satisfaction and energy behaviours in Toronto’s LEED gold high-rise residential buildings." International Journal of Energy Sector Management 8, no. 4 (October 28, 2014): 492–505. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijesm-11-2013-0007.
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Purpose – This paper aims to present four purposes: to assess occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ); to determine if occupants appear to be operating their dwellings in an energy efficient manner; to suggest ways that occupant satisfaction and behaviour can help or hinder energy efficiency; and to show that the post-occupancy evaluation approach is an effective tool in diagnosing and improving satisfaction and energy efficiency in high-rise residential buildings. Design/methodology/approach – Beyond measuring occupant satisfaction with IEQ, this paper uses scores and user comments from occupant questionnaires to identify success and indicate frustration and/or confusion with particular building technologies. It also extrapolates the energy efficiency implications of these responses in four Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold residential towers. Findings – The research highlights where problems occur, particularly with the adoption of new technologies which may not be well understood by the occupants. It also identifies behaviour patterns that may negate energy efficiency strategies. Research limitations/implications – The lack of dwelling metre data prevents this research from making causal links between behaviours and their energy implications. Also, the lack of Canadian benchmarks for satisfaction of occupants means that comparisons can only be made to cases from the UK, which is less robust. Originality/value – This type of work has never been done in Canadian residential high rise towers before. It helps to better understand the process of ensuring that occupants successfully adopt innovation that can lead to energy savings.
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Steinberg, Deborah, Melissa Patchan, Christian Schunn, and Amy Landis. "Developing a Focus for Green Building Occupant Training Materials." Journal of Green Building 4, no. 2 (May 1, 2009): 175–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.4.2.175.
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With the shift from conventional to green buildings a need emerges to train staff on how to work within them. Building occupants control many of the green building technologies, which makes it necessary to educate occupants on the differences between using a green building versus a conventional building in order to secure the green building's success. The breadth of information that is necessary for an occupant to know in order to change their behaviors to be in accord with the high performing building they occupy makes it necessary to use a systematic method to reduce the information provided in trainings. This study employs a decision matrix approach as an objective means to narrow the focus of the training. A case study is used to implement the methods developed in this study. A focus group evaluated the effectiveness of the decision matrix. Results from the focus group showed that staff was active in waste reduction behaviors, but not in energy efficient actions. This supported the outcome of the decision matrix in finding relevant, necessary information for the training.
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D’Orazio, Marco, Gabriele Bernardini, and Enrico Quagliarini. "A probabilistic model to evaluate the effectiveness of main solutions to COVID-19 spreading in university buildings according to proximity and time-based consolidated criteria." Building Simulation 14, no. 6 (February 27, 2021): 1795–809. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0770-2.
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AbstractUniversity buildings are one of the most relevant closed environments in which the COVID-19 event clearly pointed out stakeholders’ needs toward safety issues, especially because of the possibility of day-to-day presences of the same users (i.e. students, teachers) and overcrowding causing long-lasting contacts with possible “infectors”. While waiting for the vaccine, as for other public buildings, policy-makers’ measures to limit virus outbreaks combine individual’s strategies (facial masks), occupants’ capacity and access control. But, up to now, no easy-to-apply tools are available for assessing the punctual effectiveness of such measures. To fill this gap, this work proposes a quick and probabilistic simulation model based on consolidated proximity and exposure-time-based rules for virus transmission confirmed by international health organizations. The building occupancy is defined according to university scheduling, identifying the main “attraction areas” in the building (classrooms, break-areas). Scenarios are defined in terms of occupants’ densities and the above-mentioned mitigation strategies. The model is calibrated on experimental data and applied to a relevant university building. Results demonstrate the model capabilities. In particular, it underlines that if such strategies are not combined, the virus spreading can be limited by only using high protection respiratory devices (i.e. FFP3) by almost every occupant. On the contrary, the combination between access control and building capacity limitation can lead to the adoption of lighter protective devices (i.e. surgical masks), thus improving the feasibility, users’ comfort and favorable reception. Simplified rules to combine acceptable mask filters-occupants’ density are thus provided to help stakeholders in organizing users’ presences in the building during the pandemic.
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Hu, Yi. "Research on Green Building & Occupant Satisfaction." Applied Mechanics and Materials 357-360 (August 2013): 403–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.357-360.403.
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Some of the elements of a new vision for broad, spatially and temporally extensive data on occupant satisfaction in built environments coupled with processes to drive improvement in green building practice. The survey demonstrated that occupants in green buildings were more satisfied with thermal comfort and air quality in their workspace. The studying contents on specific strategies which will promote the environment building in the future.
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Pilipová, Ivana, and Silvia Vilčeková. "Perceived Comfort of Indoor Environment and Users’ Performance in Office Building with Smart Elements – case Study." Selected Scientific Papers - Journal of Civil Engineering 8, no. 2 (November 1, 2013): 61–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/sspjce-2013-0019.
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Abstract A greater degree of awareness of comfort and productivity of building users according to post-occupancy evaluation and feedback of users in intelligent buildings is necessary. This report presents a summary of the results from a physical measurements, a post-occupancy evaluation study on perceived comfort of indoor environment and self-evaluation of occupant’s performance in the new multifunctional 5 floor-building in city of Kosice, Slovakia. There were investigated degree of perceived comfort and user’s performance with regard to objective measurement, respondents' response and building character. This case study has highlighted that influence of monitored factors of building with smart elements is positively received and wasn't determined their negative impact on perceived comfort of indoor environment and occupants' performance. Results show that respondents are mostly satisfied with their indoor environment conditions of workplace. Interviews with respondents detected they have not been perceived (negative) factors in workplace because they have been too concentric on the work and they have not felt discomfort.
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Pedram, Shahrzad, and Fitsum Tariku. "Moisture Buffering Effect of Gypsum Board in a Marine Climate: A Field Experimental Study." Advanced Materials Research 1051 (October 2014): 763–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1051.763.
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Durability, acceptable indoor air quality, energy efficiency and aesthetics are all pillars of good design in healthy buildings. A new approach for optimizing all four of these pillars is whole-building performance design. This approach involves the consideration of heat, air and moisture (HAM) transfer and control of a building, specifically, how the coupled relations between different transient systems (mechanical system, building envelope, indoor environment, outdoor environment, and occupants) affect the building performance and operation. Ventilation is one of the means of controlling indoor humidity in buildings. Its effectiveness depends on the supply air moisture level and the ventilation rate. The drier the supply air is, the higher its capacity to remove indoor humidity. In a marine climate where the outdoor air is relatively moist, higher ventilation rate is required to achieve the same level of indoor humidity in a cold and dry climate. In this study, the potential benefit of interior gypsum finishing in lowering indoor humidity peaks, through the moisture buffering process, and thereby reducing ventilation rates are investigated. A field experimental study is conducted using two identical test facilities at the Whole Building Performance Research Laboratory in Burnaby, British Columbia to test this hypothesis in a marine climate. Initial benchmarking of the recently commissioned test buildings was undertaken to ensure they behaved similarly under identical conditions. Each building was outfitted with an occupant simulator unit, which provided the humidification that would be produced by occupants. The occupants simulators were programmed based on moisture production data analysis from a real high-occupancy apartment suite, to provide two different moisture generation profiles representing typical and high intensities, scaled down to the size of the test buildings. Following benchmarking, three tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of ventilation rate, moisture generation intensity, and moisture buffering ability of finishing surfaces on indoor moisture levels. Preliminary experimental test results are presented. Future tests will be undertaken to consider other factors such as indoor air quality based on carbon dioxide concentration, heating and ventilation energy consumption, and alternative finishing materials.
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Steinberg, Deborah, Melissa Patchan, Christian Schunn, and Amy Landis. "Determining Adequate Information for Green Building Occupant Training Materials." Journal of Green Building 4, no. 3 (August 1, 2009): 143–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.4.3.143.
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As knowledge of the built environment's impact on resource and energy use increases, industry leaders are moving toward a healthier, more sustainable solution by building green. Though green buildings have the ability to improve occupant health and productivity, it is not clear what impact the behaviors of building occupants have on the building. New systems and technologies in green buildings require building occupants to think and operate differently in their new green environment, otherwise risking not fully gaining the benefits of the new facility. The new behaviors necessary to the success of the green building are not necessarily obvious or trivial. They cannot simply be learned “on-the-job;” rather the transformation will require formal education. It likely requires changing attitudes and beliefs in addition to building a robust understanding of new procedures. This study sought to determine the amount of information necessary to change occupants' willingness to use new energy-efficient behaviors not followed in the conventional building. An empirical test comparing four versions of the same training, each with varying amounts and types of information was presented to three different populations: nursing staff of a green building, clinical staff of a green building, and nursing staff of a conventional building. Results show that knowledge of green building standards and the impact of energy saving behaviors are the information necessary to increase willingness to change behaviors. Also, staff members of the new, green building are more willing to change behaviors than staff of the conventional building.
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Park, Jihyun, Vivian Loftness, and Azizan Aziz. "Post-Occupancy Evaluation and IEQ Measurements from 64 Office Buildings: Critical Factors and Thresholds for User Satisfaction on Thermal Quality." Buildings 8, no. 11 (November 12, 2018): 156. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings8110156.
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The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of buildings can have a strong influence on occupants’ comfort, productivity, and health. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is necessary in assessing the IEQ of the built environment, and it typically relies on the subjective surveys of thermal quality, air quality, visual quality, and acoustic quality. In this research, we expanded POE to include both objective IEQ measurements and the technical attributes of building systems (TABS) that may affect indoor environment and user satisfaction. The suite of three tools, including user satisfaction survey, workstation IEQ measurements, and TABS in the National Environmental Assessment Toolkit (NEAT) has been deployed in 1601 workstations in 64 office buildings, generating a rich database for statistical evaluation of possible correlations between the physical attributes of workstations, environmental conditions, and user satisfaction. Multivariate regression and multiple correlation coefficient statistical analysis revealed the relationship between measured and perceived IEQ indices, interdependencies between IEQ indices, and other satisfaction variables of significance. The results showed that overall, 55% of occupants responded as “satisfied” or “neutral”, and 45% reported being “dissatisfied” in their thermal quality. Given the dataset, air temperature in work area, size of thermal zone, window quality, level of temperature control, and radiant temperature asymmetry with façade are the critical factors for thermal quality satisfaction in the field. As a result, the outcome of this research contributes to identifying correlations between occupant satisfaction, measured data, and technical attributes of building systems. The presented integrated IEQ assessment method can further afford robust predictions of building performance against metrics and guidelines for IEQ standards to capture revised IEQ thresholds that impact building occupants’ satisfaction.
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Cîrstolovean, Lucian, and Paraschiva Mizgan. "Validation of Building Energy Modeling Tools for a Residential Building in Brasov Area-Romania." Ovidius University Annals of Constanta - Series Civil Engineering 20, no. 1 (December 1, 2018): 43–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ouacsce-2018-0004.
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Abstract A building energy model is a simulation tool which calculates the thermal loads and energy use in buildings. Building energy models provide valuable insight into energy use in buildings based on architecture, materials and thermal loads. In addition, building energy models also must account for the effects of the building’s occupants in terms of energy use. In this paper we discuss building energy models and their accuracy in predicting energy use. In particular, we focus on two types of validation methods which have been used to investigate the accuracy of building energy models and on how they account for their effects on occupants. The analyzed building is P + M located in the climatic zone 4, Sânpetru / Braşov. We have carried out a detailed and exemplary energy needs analysis using two methods of analysis.
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Valle, Cristian Roberto, Elli Verhulst, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Antje Junghans, and Thomas Berker. "FM perceptions on occupant impact and the shaping of occupant engagement practice." Facilities 37, no. 11/12 (August 5, 2019): 762–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-03-2017-0027.
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Purpose This paper aims to apply frame analysis to explore the mental models by which building managers interpret the impact of building occupants on energy use and rationalize their approach to occupant engagement. Design/methodology/approach Findings from four energy-efficient buildings (two schools and two office buildings) in Norway are presented. The methodology includes individual semi-structured interviews with both operational and strategic facilities managers Findings Concepts and theoretical perspectives with the potential to shape the building managers’ perceptions include technical knowledge and expertise, management responsibilities, familiarity with occupant routines and understanding of energy-efficient technologies. No significant impact was attributed to the actions of occupants in the areas of comfort, core function and behavior. Significant impact was attributed to their movement and presence. Perceptions of impact were found to influence, yet not determine, the building managers’ choices of practice. Practical implications Factors with the potential to affect the adoption of occupant engagement initiatives were highlighted. This study pointed to the role that automation and centralization can play in influencing facilities managers to rescind from their management responsibilities. Originality/value To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study to use framings in thoughts to investigate the process by which facilities managers rationalize occupant engagement, in relation to their perception of occupant impact on energy use.
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Xuan, Xiaodong. "Study of indoor environmental quality and occupant overall comfort and productivity in LEED- and non-LEED–certified healthcare settings." Indoor and Built Environment 27, no. 4 (December 19, 2016): 544–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1420326x16684007.
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The study combined quantitative and qualitative approaches, in terms of both staff perception and facility manager perspective, to evaluate the effectiveness of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of LEED–certified facilities and relationship between IEQ and occupant comfort and productivity in healthcare settings in the USA climate zones 2 and 3. A multiple-methods approach combining a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview was tested for effective post-occupancy evaluation. The study compared one non-LEED healthcare facility with five LEED certified healthcare buildings and examined which variable(s) had significant relationship with comfort and productivity by surveying 249 occupants and interviewing six facility managers in six healthcare settings. The results showed that five LEED–certified healthcare settings were superior to one non-LEED facility in most of building performance factors. Building design, temperature comfort, image presented to visitors, use of space, control over noise and ability to meet occupants’ needs were significant predictors for overall comfort. Lighting overall, temperature comfort and image presented to visitors had a significant positive relationship with perceived productivity. Only one non-LEED hospital was selected and some buildings had small response rate, the results should be interpreted with caution.
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Best, Rick, and Brian Purdey. "Assessing occupant comfort in an iconic sustainable education building." Construction Economics and Building 12, no. 3 (September 11, 2012): 55–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v12i3.2537.
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The building that houses the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University is the first educational building to achieve a six Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. It has won numerous awards since opening in August 2008 including being judged the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Sustainable Building of 2009. After more than two years in use a post-occupancy evaluation study was carried out to assess the performance of the building from the viewpoint of the users; both resident staff and transient students. Results for factors such as lighting, thermal comfort, noise and air quality. were compared to benchmarks established by the Usable Buildings Trust. The evaluation also assessed the occupants’ perceptions of the building’s impact on their own productivity. Users generally find the building provides a comfortable work environment although a number of areas of performance were noted as posing some concerns. These included intrusive noise in some parts of the building and some issues with glare in daylit teaching spaces. Such concerns were found to be in accord with the results of previous studies and they highlight some recurrent problems in “green” buildings designed to maximise the use of natural ventilation and natural light. These design challenges and how occupant satisfaction is to be measured and benchmarked are also discussed in the context of this comparative building study.
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Park, Herie, and Sang-Bong Rhee. "IoT-Based Smart Building Environment Service for Occupants’ Thermal Comfort." Journal of Sensors 2018 (2018): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/1757409.
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This paper presents an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for a smart building which provides human care services for occupants. The individual health profiles of the occupants are acquired by the IoT-based smart building, which uses the accumulated knowledge of the occupants to provide better services. To ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants inside the building, we propose a dynamic thermal model of occupants. This model is based on the heat balance equation of human body and thermal characteristics of the occupants. We implement this model in two smart building models with heaters controlled by a temperature and thermal comfort index using MATLAB/Simulink®. The simulation results show that the thermal comfort-based control is more effective to maintaining occupants’ thermal satisfaction and is therefore recommended for use providing human care services using IoT platforms in smart buildings.
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Kim, Hye Gi, and Sun Sook Kim. "Occupants’ Awareness of and Satisfaction with Green Building Technologies in a Certified Office Building." Sustainability 12, no. 5 (March 9, 2020): 2109. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12052109.
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With growing awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, much effort has been made to achieve “sustainability” in the building sector. Across the globe, many architects and building owners are striving to realize mandatory or voluntary building certification, in order to affirm the environmental performance of their buildings. Various sustainable design strategies and green building technologies have been adopted to improve buildings’ environmental performance as well as to achieve higher levels of certification. These technologies and strategies could affect building occupants’ satisfaction as well as productivity. This paper presents the results of post occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys to investigate occupants’ awareness of various green building technologies and their satisfaction levels and causes of dissatisfaction for selected technologies. A questionnaire survey was conducted for an office building in Korea that had received the highest grades in rating and certification systems. Some technologies showed higher levels of awareness and satisfaction, but there were also a few technologies with lower levels of satisfaction than we had expected. If these technologies are applied to buildings in the future, after improvisation or modification based on the POE results, it could serve as an effective strategy to increase people’s satisfaction as well as improve environmental performance.
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Ferrantelli, Andrea, Helena Kuivjõgi, Jarek Kurnitski, and Martin Thalfeldt. "Office Building Tenants’ Electricity Use Model for Building Performance Simulations." Energies 13, no. 21 (October 22, 2020): 5541. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13215541.
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Large office buildings are responsible for a substantial portion of energy consumption in urban districts. However, thorough assessments regarding the Nordic countries are still lacking. In this paper we analyse the largest dataset to date for a Nordic office building, by considering a case study located in Stockholm, Sweden, that is occupied by nearly a thousand employees. Distinguishing the lighting and occupants’ appliances energy use from heating and cooling, we can estimate the impact of occupancy without any schedule data. A standard frequentist analysis is compared with Bayesian inference, and the according regression formulas are listed in tables that are easy to implement into building performance simulations (BPS). Monthly as well as seasonal correlations are addressed, showing the critical importance of occupancy. A simple method, grounded on the power drain measurements aimed at generating boundary conditions for the BPS, is also introduced; it shows how, for this type of data and number of occupants, no more complexities are needed in order to obtain reliable predictions. For an average year, we overestimate the measured cumulative consumption by only 4.7%. The model can be easily generalised to a variety of datasets.
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Shahzad, Sally, John Brennan, Dimitris Theodossopoulos, John K. Calautit, and Ben R. Hughes. "Does a neutral thermal sensation determine thermal comfort?" Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 39, no. 2 (January 25, 2018): 183–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143624418754498.
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The neutral thermal sensation (neither cold, nor hot) is widely used through the application of the ASHRAE seven-point thermal sensation scale to assess thermal comfort. This study investigated the application of the neutral thermal sensation and it questions the reliability of any study that solely relies on neutral thermal sensation. Although thermal-neutrality has already been questioned, still most thermal comfort studies only use this measure to assess thermal comfort of the occupants. In this study, the connection of the occupant’s thermal comfort with thermal-neutrality was investigated in two separate contexts of Norwegian and British offices. Overall, the thermal environment of four office buildings was evaluated and 313 responses (three times a day) to thermal sensation, thermal preference, comfort, and satisfaction were recorded. The results suggested that 36% of the occupants did not want to feel neutral and they considered thermal sensations other than neutral as their comfort condition. Also, in order to feel comfortable, respondents reported wanting to feel different thermal sensations at different times of the day suggesting that occupant desire for thermal comfort conditions may not be as steady as anticipated. This study recommends that other measures are required to assess human thermal comfort, such as thermal preference. Practical application: This study questions the application of neutral thermal sensation as the measure of thermal comfort. The findings indicate that occupant may consider other sensations than neutral as comfortable. This finding directly questions the standard comfort zone (e.g. ASHRAE Standard 55) as well as the optimum temperature, as many occupants required different thermal sensations at different times of the day to feel comfortable. These findings suggest that a steady indoor thermal environment does not guarantee thermal comfort and variations in the room temperature, which can be controlled by the occupant, need to be considered as part of the building design.
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Pisello, Anna L., Veronica L. Castaldo, Cristina Piselli, and Franco Cotana. "Coupling artworks preservation constraints with visitors’ environmental satisfaction: Results from an indoor microclimate assessment procedure in a historical museum building in central Italy." Indoor and Built Environment 27, no. 6 (February 22, 2017): 846–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1420326x17694422.
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Historical buildings represent one-third of the Italian stock and are often used as museums. Such buildings typically are not equipped with control systems and indoor microclimate does not guarantee a proper conservation of the building finishing and artworks. Additionally, conditions are far from visitors’ ideal indoor air quality (IAQ). This paper proposes a methodology for microclimate analysis that deals with artworks preservation and occupants' conditions optimization. The methodology consists of monitoring and data analysis using non-invasive equipment for the preservation of the building structure, artworks, and occupanst’ IAQ. To this aim, the monitoring of an Italian building was performed. The microclimate was monitored to characterize the environmental quality of the investigated area. Around 60% of the relative humidity values were higher than the target for occupants’ well-being and artworks preservation. Air temperature was stabilized by the thermal mass of the envelope, to reduce winter overcooling risks though. In winter, indeed, up to 40% of temperatures were below the limits for the artworks preservation. The CO2 level was acceptable as it was always below 1000 ppm. The results showed how a careful control and monitoring protocol is needed when heritage buildings are used for artworks preservation and also with a requirement to meet occupants’ satisfaction targets.
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Hedge, Alan, and Cameron McKee. "Employee Reactions to Electrochromic Glass Windows in a Financial Office Building." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 64, no. 1 (December 2020): 531–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1071181320641120.
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A post occupancy evaluation survey of workers in a new financial office building with EC windows was conducted. Results show that those occupants with window views responded more favorably to the effects of the EC windows than those who did not have these views. Most occupants did not report eyestrain or headache. Significantly more occupants with EC window views reported comfortable daylight, better daylight quality, better daylight satisfaction, better alertness, greater energy, relaxation and happiness at work, better sleep quality, and increase productivity. Implications of these findings are discussed.
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Jia, Mengda, Ravi Srinivasan, Robert J. Ries, Gnana Bharathy, and Nathan Weyer. "Investigating the Impact of Actual and Modeled Occupant Behavior Information Input to Building Performance Simulation." Buildings 11, no. 1 (January 17, 2021): 32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11010032.
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Occupant behaviors are one of the most dominant factors that influence building energy use. Understanding the influences from building occupants can promote the development of energy–efficient buildings. This paper quantifies the impact of different occupant behavior information on building energy model (BEM) from multiple perspectives. For this purpose, an occupant behavior model that uses agent–based modeling (ABM) approach is implemented via co-simulation with a BEM of an existing commercial building. Then, actual occupant behavior data in correspondence to ABM output, including operations on window, door, and blinds in selected thermal zones of the building are recorded using survey logs. A simulation experiment is conducted by creating three BEMs with constant, actual, and modeled occupant behavioral inputs. The analysis of the simulation results among these scenarios helps us gain an in–depth understanding of how occupant behaviors influence building performance. This study aims to facilitate robust building design and operation with human–in–the–loop system optimization.
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Azizi, Nurul Sakina Mokhtar, Suzanne Wilkinson, and Elizabeth Fassman. "DO OCCUPANTS IN GREEN BUILDINGS PRACTICE BETTER ENERGY SAVING BEHAVIOUR IN COMPUTER USAGE THAN OCCUPANTS IN CONVENTIONAL BUILDINGS?" Journal of Green Building 10, no. 4 (November 2015): 178–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.10.4.178.
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Green buildings are not entirely successful in achieving energy saving targets. One way of improving energy targets is to encourage occupants to adopt energy saving behaviour. To date, energy saving behaviour has been given less focus in improving green building performance than other energy saving initiatives, such as retrofitting buildings for green features. This study uses comparison case studies between green buildings and conventional buildings in New Zealand to better understand the energy saving behaviour of occupants. Questionnaires were distributed to occupants in green and conventional buildings to evaluate the extent of energy saving behaviour practiced and to identify potential strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour. The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of energy saving behaviour between green and conventional office buildings to see if people in green buildings perform better energy saving behaviour than people in conventional buildings in computer usage. The findings do show better energy saving behaviour from occupants in green buildings than occupants in conventional buildings. The paper shows why this is the case. The recommended strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour used by different buildings are also discussed. Strategies include raising education awareness on energy efficiency among the building occupants, energy saving commitments, and to have an active building manager assigned for energy related matters.
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Rahman, Haolia, Agus Sukandi, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Arnas Arnas, and Remon Lapisa. "Mechanical Ventilation Control Based on Estimated occupancy using a Carbon Dioxide Sensor." TEKNIK 41, no. 3 (November 23, 2020): 232–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/teknik.v41i3.33416.
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Ventilation is an important aspect to maintain good indoor air quality in a building. However, excessive ventilation causing high energy consumption of the HVAC system. The ASHRAE Standard provides a guideline to set the ventilation rate that depends on the occupants' number and space. Thus, quantification of the number of occupants is required to regulate the ventilation rate. In this study, the estimated number of occupants was estimated using a Bayesian MCMC method based on CO2 levels. The mass balance equation of the CO2 is used as a model for the calculation of Bayesian MCMC. The Bayesian method for estimating the occupants' number is tested in a 96,7 m3 office room equipped with a ventilation system. Thus the occupancy estimation and control of ventilation can be done in real-time. The test also includes conventional ventilation control based on CO2 levels directly without converting to the occupants' number. The ventilation rate based on the number of occupants at the present test chamber refers to ASHRAE 62.1. The test results show that ventilation controlled by the estimated number of occupants using the Bayesian method successfully conducted with ventilation rate per occupant closer to the ASHRAE 62.1 standard over conventional ventilation method
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Ponsoni, Karina, and Maria Stella Gonçalves Raddi. "Indoor Air quality related to occupancy at an air-conditioned public building." Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 53, no. 1 (February 2010): 99–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1516-89132010000100013.
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To characterize the influence of occupancy on the indoor air quality, a public office building with air-conditioning system was selected for this study. The indoor parameters included total bacteria count, total fungal count, temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration. The number of occupants, which varied throughout the day, was recorded in each sample. The samples were taken before the beginning of the working day and during 3 h, at an interval of 30 min between each sampling, and continued for five working days during a week. Correlation analysis demonstrated that occupancy rates were positively correlated with airborne bacteria, CO2, and temperature. No significant association between the number of occupants and fungus was observed. The results of this study provided information on the variability of indoor air parameters during the time-varying occupancy over the course of the day in at air-conditioned buildings where occupancy was quite dynamic.
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Wise, James A. "Measuring the Occupant Benefits of Green Buildings." Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 41, no. 1 (October 1997): 495–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1071181397041001110.
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Widespread reports have surprisingly indicated that “green” buildings may be as beneficial to their occupants as to the environment. These are purported ancillary benefits like improved health, morale and well being, and even enhanced human performance and productivity. This paper presents the results of a two year quasi-experimental field study in a new ‘green building’ that measured occupant responses, proposed an explanatory rationale, and developed a protocol for assessing overall green building benefits.
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Andargie, Maedot S., Marianne Touchie, and William O'Brien. "Subjective and objective evaluation of the impact and airborne sound insulation of multi-unit residential buildings." INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings 263, no. 6 (August 1, 2021): 778–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.3397/in-2021-1648.
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Multi-unit residential building (MURB) occupants often express dissatisfaction with their suites' acoustic conditions despite existing building acoustic standards and regulations as well as growing research on noise control and building acoustics. Reasons for this include the lack of proper characterization of acoustic comfort in MURBs and lack of comprehensive and stringent regulations. To better understand factors that impact acoustic comfort and explore strategies to improve the acoustic performance of MURBs, investigations of acoustic conditions were carried out. This work presents the results of the investigations which include subjective and objective evaluations of acoustic conditions in two MURBs. Impact sound insulation measurements using both a tapping machine and a rubber ball as well as 24-hour indoor noise monitoring were carried out in unoccupied suites. An online survey was then used to collect subjective assessments of the noise conditions in the buildings and the effects on occupants' comfort post occupancy. Results of the data analysis suggest that occupants are more sensitive to low-frequency impact sounds than mid- and high-frequency impact noise.
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Hashim, Ahmad Ezanee, Hasnizan Aksah, and Shahrul Yani Said. "Performance Review through Post Occupancy Audit on Refurbished Listed Public Building in Kuala Lumpur." Journal of ASIAN Behavioural Studies 3, no. 7 (March 16, 2018): 75. http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/jabs.v3i7.260.
Full textAbstract:
Malaysian public listed buildings are valuable assets, for their architectural landmark and tourism potential. Refurbishment works are carried out to keep the original design characteristics while maintaining their functions. The study aims to review through Post Occupancy Audit/Evaluation (POE) concept in identifying performance issue and to determine the functional performance satisfaction level from the occupants perspective. Another aim is to develop a conceptual conducive design guideline or framework for future refurbish public building. The finding revealed that building performance criteria highly correlated with the occupant’s satisfaction.
Keywords: Refurbishment; Public Building; Post Occupancy Review; Performance and Satisfaction
eISSN 2514-7528 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
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Li, Junjie, Shuai Lu, and Qingguo Wang. "Graphical visualisation assist analysis of indoor environmental performance: Impact of atrium spaces on public buildings in cold climates." Indoor and Built Environment 27, no. 3 (October 13, 2016): 331–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1420326x16674345.
Full textAbstract:
The buffer effect provided by an atrium is one typical passive strategy used in sustainable building design. Based on a comprehensive evaluation framework that includes both satisfaction and comfort, this research develops two types of graphical visualisation info-graphs. One is a compass reflecting the occupant satisfaction voting, which conveys the level of satisfaction occupants have with the architectural design. The results reflect the health level of the occupants, as well as how efficiently resources are used. The second info-graph is a data cloud that can be used to display a building’s physical environment, and thus convey the distribution of the characteristics of physical environment, such as thermal comfort, lighting, and the acoustic and indoor air quality throughout the entire building. This data cloud directly displays the impact of the passive space on the main building space. Its results illustrate how effectively the building’s indoor environment provides the required levels of occupant comfort and quality of life. Finally, this research uses an example of a green building in a cold climate in China to display its unique method of graphical visualisation analysis. The results highlight the level of environmental performance of the object building in two kinds of info-graphs, as well as optimised possibilities for the atrium and the entire building in both the design and renovation phases.