Study on occupant behaviour using air conditioning of high-rise residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter zone in China

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the electricity consumption of residential air conditioning (AC) has increased by 13.4 times. Moreover, carbon emissions from building operations remain high. Occupant behaviour related to AC operation is the most significant factor affecting the energy consumption of residential ACs. Hence, in this study, occupant behaviour towards using air conditioning in high-rise residential buildings was analysed to provide suggestions for increasing the AC usage efficiency. Annual data on the AC power consumption, indoor temperature, and humidity of typical high-rise residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter zones in China were collected. Five target parameters—AC opening rate, AC standby rate, start–stop time, start–stop temperature, and stable temperature—were statistically analysed. The results reveal that the AC start–stop time follows a normal distribution. The start and stop times of the AC during the cooling period are 22:32 and 7:05 the next day, respectively, whereas during the heating periods these values were 20:42 and 23:02 or 7:56 the next day, respectively. The standard deviation of the time distribution of AC starting or stopping at night is larger than that during the day. The AC start-up temperature followed an exponential distribution. The indoor temperature during the cooling and heating periods is more than 29.42 °C and less than 11.08 °C, respectively. The opening rate of the room AC is 80 %.