Simulating the impact of occupants on office building design: A case study

Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests that occupants play a significant role and contribute uncertainty to building energy performance, yet they are modelled using simple schedules that may not reflect reality. This paper examines the impact of occupant-related assumptions on the building simulation-based design process. Thirteen variants of the model of a real office building model were generated representing 13 occupant scenarios. Each occupant scenario was simulated with 32 different design alternatives. The design alternatives were ranked based on their energy performance. The results indicate that the ranking of about one-third of the 32 design features is significantly affected by occupant-related assumptions. The design decisions regarding window materials and ventilation mode are the most sensitive to occupant-related assumptions.