Abstract
While a mixture of residential and non-residential uses in urban development has advantages in reducing transportation energy consumption and improving efficiency of land utilization, the patterns of energy consumption in mixed-use buildings are largely unknown. To understand associations between the built environment and energy consumption and to find effective strategies for energy saving, this study aims to examine how the gas and electricity energy consumption of mixed-use properties is influenced by the characteristics of the immediate surroundings of the building as well as by the building’s attributes. The sample for this study is 22,109 mixed-use buildings in Seoul, Korea and the main source of outcome is electricity and gas energy consumption data retrieved from the open system of building data in 2015 and 2016. The regression results showed that a higher proportion of non-residential uses in mixed-use buildings was positively associated with higher electricity consumption overall but that it reduced gas energy use during the winter. In particular, increased restaurant and service use significantly influenced electricity consumption in the buildings. With regard to surrounding built environment, higher impervious surfaces and dense development near the buildings increased the electricity consumption of the buildings but it reduced gas energy consumption. Our results imply that, through the mediating effects of UHIs, the built environment characteristics of immediate surroundings may have indirect effects on energy consumption in mixed-use buildings.
Highlights
There is growing concern about climate change, increasing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions [1]
A substantial amount of energy is consumed in the residential sector, the patterns of residential energy consumption have not been well understood because residential buildings have a wide variety of structure and materials, occupants’ behaviors vary widely and privacy issues hinder the collection of household energy consumption data [1]
The current study investigates the influence of mixed-use buildings and their surrounding built environment on electricity and gas energy consumption
Summary
There is growing concern about climate change, increasing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions [1]. Energy demand in nations with emerging economies is increasing much faster than that in developed countries [2]. Over the last 20 years, for example, the total energy consumption of China has tripled. Total per capita energy consumption in Korea reached 5.6 toe in 2016, which is substantially higher than 3.1 toe for the European Union [3]. 30% of the energy consumed worldwide is consumed in the residential sector [1]. A substantial amount of energy is consumed in the residential sector, the patterns of residential energy consumption have not been well understood because residential buildings have a wide variety of structure and materials, occupants’ behaviors vary widely and privacy issues hinder the collection of household energy consumption data [1]
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