Journal article
Quantifying the human-building interaction: Considering the active, adaptive occupant in building performance simulation
Energy and buildings, v 117, pp 372-386
01 Apr 2016
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
This paper introduces a Human and Building Interaction Toolkit (HABIT) for simulating the thermally adaptive behaviors and comfort of office occupants alongside building energy consumption. The toolkit uses the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) to co-simulate a field-tested, agent-based behavior model with an EnergyPlus medium office model. The usefulness of the toolkit is demonstrated through a series of zone and building-level case study simulations that examine the wisdom of pairing local heating and cooling options with strategic thermostat set point offsets, judging from the energy, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), and cost perspectives.
Results generally suggest that trading efficient local heating/cooling options for whole space conditioning has both energy and comfort benefits, saving up to 28% of monthly HVAC energy while improving the acceptability of thermal conditions in a Philadelphia climate. Nevertheless, cost analysis shows that the fuel source of conserved energy must be considered- particularly in the case of personal heater use, which adds to electric plug loads and associated utility and CO2 emissions,cost penalties. Moreover, costs from even small changes in simulated occupant productivity tend to overwhelm energy costs, suggesting the need to improve the accuracy and precision of available productivity models across multiple seasons and climates. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Quantifying the human-building interaction: Considering the active, adaptive occupant in building performance simulation
- Creators
- Jared Langevin - Drexel UniversityJin Wen - Drexel UniversityPatrick L. Gurian - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Energy and buildings, v 117, pp 372-386
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000373751300037
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84960804737
- Other Identifier
- 991019169666604721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Construction & Building Technology
- Energy & Fuels
- Engineering, Civil