Method for the determination of optimal work environment in office buildings considering energy consumption and human performance

Abstract

• A model was proposed to obtain economically optimal environment conditions. • Energy and staff performance were integrated in office environment design. • Optimal conditions vary with practical factors such as salary and energy price. • Optimal conditions for an office in Shanghai as a prototype were achieved. How to balance the contradiction between energy saving and improvement of indoor environmental quality which consequently affects human performance has always been a problem. We put forward the economically optimum condition as a concept that maximized economic benefit in terms of regulation of office environment parameters. The calculation method was provided by which energy consumption could be reduced without compromise of human performance. A regression model predicting the energy consumption of a typical office building was illustrated as a function of two indoor environment parameters, i.e., indoor air temperature and air ventilation rate. Practical factors including salary and electric price, which have impact on the condition determination, were discussed. As a prototype, an office building in Shanghai achieved its economically optimal conditions at an air temperature of 25.1 °C and an outdoor ventilation rate of 17.9 L/s-person in summer.