Impact of human actions on building energy performance: A case study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the literature to understand how actions taken by occupants and facility managers can affect building performance. However, user-centric building energy research: (1) remains understudied compared to design-focused research efforts; (2) overlooks combined effects or uncertainty in multiple parameters; and (3) typically does not cover particular types of buildings (e.g., educational facilities), nor buildings subject to extreme weather conditions. This paper fills an important gap in the literature by proposing a comprehensive energy modeling and analysis framework to quantify the impact of human action on building energy consumption. The framework applies various data analysis methods such as differential, fractional factorial, and Monte Carlo analysis methods, in order to capture potential combined or synergetic effects of human actions on building performance. A case study is then presented on typical educational buildings located in the extreme hot climate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Results indicate that uncertainty in human actions can lead up to a ±25% variation from average energy consumption levels, confirming the significant role that people have in making their built environment more efficient and sustainable.