Energy-consumption simulation of a distributed air-conditioning system integrated with occupant behavior

Abstract

Occupant behavior (OB) has been recognized as a significant factor that influences the energy consumed by the occupants of a building. For buildings equipped with distributed air-conditioning systems, the stochastic influences of occupants are particularly salient. This paper presents a method for simulating the occupancy and air-conditioning usage; it integrates the OB model with a modified distributed air-conditioning system in EnergyPlus (E+). First, we develop a monitoring system that uses motion sensors and thermostats to measure the occupancy and air-conditioning usage in a hotel building. Then, we use the Markov Chain method and a Monte-Carlo stochastic model to simulate the occupancy and set-point adjustment, respectively. We modify the distributed air-conditioning system in E+ to reflect the intermittent operation and temperature fluctuation characteristics of split-type air conditioners (ACs). Finally, to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, we conduct a simulation of a hotel building that integrates the OB model with the modified distributed air-conditioning system. The results show that the method can incorporate the features of both the OB and the split-type ACs. Significant differences (7.86%) can be observed in the energy consumption results between the original and modified models. The modified E+ model can be used to perform a more accurate simulation for split-type ACs with a shorter time step, integrating OB at the scale of an entire building.