Processing and Configuring Smart and Sustainable Building Management Practices in a University Building in Australia

Abstract

Australia’s building energy use accounts for a significant portion of the country’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings consume energy for a variety of purposes, including space heating, cooling, lighting, and powering electronics. Smart and sustainable building management practices allow buildings to be managed and operated more efficiently and sustainably. This study investigated the energy consumption and building management performance of a university building in Sydney, Australia. The experiment was performed by monitoring occupant comfort and building performance feedback with a push-pull mobile phone application and portable sensor technologies. The results showed that several factors influenced the occupants’ environmental comfort level, including temperature, lighting, noise, air quality, air movement, and relative humidity. Nevertheless, the ambient office temperature has a significantly higher impact on occupants’ comfort level. Results also showed that the local temperature experienced and preferred by individual occupants may vary, even under identical thermal conditions. The outcomes also confirmed strong correlations between the comfort and concentration levels (r(231) = 0.61, p = 0) and between the comfort and productivity levels (r(231) = 0.62, p = 0). Temporal analysis also revealed lower comfort levels between 13h00 and 16h00 and higher comfort levels between 10h00 and 12h00 and 17h00 and 19h00. The findings of this research indicated that ≤4% of total annual building energy consumption costs may be saved by more effectively and efficiently managing office thermostat control. More accurate and zone-based energy analysis could also reveal higher energy savings through smart occupant feedback-oriented thermostat and lighting control in commercial and office buildings.