A State of Art Review on Methodologies of Occupancy Estimating in Buildings from 2011 to 2021

Abstract

Occupancy information is important to building facility managers in terms of building energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, comfort conditions, and safety management of buildings. When combing the distribution characteristics of the literature, it is found that the field of estimating occupancy counts is a very active area. Researchers from various countries have undertaken extensive explorations to obtain more research results. In this survey, the commonly used occupancy measurement systems and algorithms are described. Through the analysis and research of different occupancy measurement systems and algorithms, their advantages, disadvantages, and limitations are summarized, so that researchers can use them selectively. As for how to choose the method of estimating occupancy counts, suggestions are given in terms of the range of people, accuracy, cost, and privacy. There are still many pressing issues relating to high-density crowd occupancy counting, complex environmental impact, and system robustness. According to the current research progress and technology development trend, the possible future research directions are pointed out. The innovation of this review is the quantitative analysis of the selection of occupancy measurement systems for different ranges of people, and the occupancy counting accuracy situation of different measurement systems and algorithms. It provides more informed opinions on the selection of practical applications. It can be used by other researchers as a starting point for their research and/or project work.