Modelling method of inter-building movement for campus-scale occupancy simulation: A case study.

As an important factor in the investigation of building energy consumption, occupant behavior (OB) has been widely studied on the building level. However so far, studies of OB modelling on the district scale remain limited. Indeed, district-scale OB modelling has been facing the challenges from the scarcity of district-scale data, modelling methods, as well as simulation application. This study initiates the extrapolation of occupancy modelling methodology from building level to district scale through proposing modelling methods of inter-building movements. The proposed modelling methods utilize multiple distribution fittings and Bayesian network to upscale the event description methods from inter-zone movement events at the building level to inter-building movement events at the district level. This study provides a framework on the application of the proposed modelling methods for a university campus in the suburbs of Shanghai, taking advantages of data sensing, monitoring and survey techniques. With the collected campus-scale occupancy data, this paper defines five patterns of inter-building movement. One pattern represents the dominated inter-building movement events for one kind of students in their daily campus life. Based on the quantitative descriptions for various inter-building movement events, this study performs the stochastic simulation for the campus district, using Markov chain models. The simulation results are then validated with the campus-scale occupancy measurement data. Furthermore, the impact of inter-building movement modelling methods on building energy demand is evaluated for the library building, taking the deterministic occupancy schedules suggested by current building design standard as a baseline.

Decarbonization potentials of the embodied energy use and operational process in buildings: A review from the life-cycle perspective.

Accounting for one third of global energy-related carbon emissions, the construction and operation of buildings are crucial for mitigating climate change. Decarbonization potentials of embodied and operational energy use in buildings are worth exploring from a life-cycle perspective. This paper focuses on the individual building level and collects the latest cases, to offer a comprehensive and timely understanding of the assessment and reduction of building life cycle carbon emissions (LCCEs). As for the collected cases, the operational process accounts for the largest share of building LCCEs, averaging 67%, followed by the production and construction phase, averaging 31%. Carbon emissions from the demolition process are relatively low, averaging 2%. The most commonly used method for assessing LCCEs is process-based, combining the activity level and carbon emission factors. Advanced technologies such as building information modelling and building performance simulation have been employed in recent years to assess embodied and operational carbon emissions effectively. Different approaches are proposed for the decarbonization of each stage in the building life cycle. In the production stage, the effective approaches could be optimizing the building structure, improving the material performance, and using bio-based materials, etc. Prefabrication technology is helpful to decarbonize the construction process. Energy conservation and electrification, renewable energy integration, and smart energy management can effectively reduce the building's operational carbon emissions. Beyond the life cycle, recycling waste materials is proven to have great environmental benefits. Further studies are suggested to trade off the embodied and operational carbon, to fully explore building life-cycle decarbonization potentials.