Evaluation of the occupancy patterns effect and managerial decisions on the energy consumption of an educational building

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

10.22109/jemt.2022.337274.1378

Abstract

Identifying and modeling the occupancy pattern and variable parameters affecting the energy consumption
of a building is a key factor in optimizing the energy consumption in the buildings. In addition to the fixed
parameters, variable parameters such as occupancy patterns affect the energy consumption of buildings.
These factors are the most important issues that can help to reduce the difference between actual and
simulated energy consumption. There is only a little evidence in the literature regarding the pattern of the
occupant. Factors that are heavily dependent on the occupancy pattern include lighting, heating, cooling,
and so on. In large commercial or office buildings, the implementation of some management programs
helps to reduce energy consumption. This study aims to investigate the effect of occupancy patterns,
facility managers, and managerial decisions on the cooling energy consumption in an educational building
in Tehran to reduce uncertainty in the energy consumption forecasting. This study examines the influence
of the presence of an occupant, aggregation of places, and the change in the temperature set point based on
the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index on the cooling energy consumption in an educational building. It
should be noted that suggesting some new managerial methods are considered as the innovations of the
present study. Among the tested various methods for reducing the cooling energy consumption, changing
the temperature set point of the cooling system by 4.26% had the greatest impact on the reduction of the
cooling energy consumption in the building.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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