Types of Energy Consumers in Offices

Abstract

The building sector accounts for more than one-third of the total primary energy use and has significant potential for energy saving [1]. However, various physical and social factors affect the energy performance of dynamic systems, such as the indoor climate condition, the building envelope, maintenance, building equipment, operation, and occupant behaviour [2, 3]. Particularly human factors contribute to a high variance in energy consumption [4]. The occupant is a major leading factor for energy use in buildings, since building systems run to provide comfortable working environments for occupants. Many studies have used kWh/m2 /year to compare energy use of buildings [5]. However, the energy use also needs to be measured by occupancy schedule and density of building users [6-8] how many people work in an office; how many hours do they stay inside. The objective of this study is to investigate how much the energy use per person is different before and after office renovation towards energy efficiency, and to identify user types according to occupancy schedule and whether energy use differs between users.