Occupant behavior modeling for smart buildings: A critical review of data acquisition technologies and modeling methodologies

Abstract

At the outset, there is no question that building energy use is largely influenced by the presence and behavior of occupants. Among other, the key to realize energy use reduction while still maintaining occupant comfort is to seamlessly integrate occupant behavior in energy simulation tools with capabilities that would optimally manage building energy systems. This paper provides an in-depth survey of occupant behavior modeling state-of-the-art technologies employed to gather relevant data and modeling methodologies to reduce energy use. Several novel technologies that have been utilized for data collection are discussed in this paper. For the purposes of this review paper, occupant behavior modeling has been organized based on their underlying methodologies namely, statistical analysis; agent-based models; data mining approaches; and stochastic techniques. After providing a thorough review of state-of-the-art research work in the field of occupant behavior modeling for smart, energy efficient buildings, this paper discusses potential areas of improvement.