Examining behavioral aspect of urban context effect on residential building energy use in Seoul – linking urban walkability to energy

Abstract

Recent studies show that urban contextual form can influence building energy use intensity (EUI). While many studies have focused on the thermal properties of buildings and their environment, human behavior, a key determinant of EUI, is also influenced by the contextual form. Urban walkability, a key measure of urban vitality, can encourage outdoor activity and thus alter occupant behavior and outsource energy demand. This study examines the behavioral aspect of the context effect on residential building EUI in Seoul. Summer electricity, winter gas, annual electricity, and annual gas EUIs are individually analyzed. Two sets of analyses are executed for each energy type. First, walkability is used as a simple explanatory variable in an ordinary least squares regression model. Second, walkability is used as a moderator for the socioeconomic parameters of occupant density, occupant age, and real estate price. The results suggest that an increase in walkability can significantly reduce residential electricity EUI, and walkability can modify the influence of occupant density and occupant age on electricity EUI. However, walkability is only a marginally significant predictor of residential gas EUI, and all interactions with socioeconomic variables are insignificant. These findings highlight the importance of walkability as a means of linking urban form and building energy.