Building Layout Influence on Occupant’s Energy Consumption Behaviour: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach

Abstract

Building energy consumption is affected by several factors, including its physical characteristics, indoor/outdoor environment, and appliances. However, the occupant’s behaviour that governs and controls the building’s energy consumption must not be forgotten. In most of the earlier studies, occupant behaviour is modelled as static or fixed occupancy profiles. These profiles are acknowledged as the main source of discrepancy between the predicted and actual building energy performance. Several studies have been performed to identify the occupant’s sustainable energy behaviours related to social, climate, economic, regulations, and personal aspects. However, building indoor configuration such as space-layout planning has various impacts on occupant sustainable energy consumption behaviour as indoor space layout might affect occupant’s movement and presence. Furthermore, it may link to the occupant’s particular activities or actions that happen at a specific position within an indoor space. So, this study used an Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach to understanding the influence of indoor layout configuration on occupant energy consumption behaviour in residential households in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The study has shown a considerable amount of building energy savings while using a sustainable space layout configuration. The simulated energy consumption data from the ABM model was further validated using the real data collected from the available smart meters in the case study location. Thus, the study will assist in recognizing the proper space layout arrangements with occupant choice and their behavioural intentions of residential building energy savings for low-income economies.