Investigation of Occupancy Behavior in Residential Buildings

Previous research studies show that occupancy behavior accounts for about 30% of the variance in overall heating consumption and 50% in cooling consumption in residential buildings. Overall energy savings of 10–20% due to simple behavioral adjustments are a reasonable expectation. Unfortunately, there are few studies have focused on the specific case of behavior in low-income housing, where unique individual energy behavior, demographic and socio-economic factors come into play. This presentation investigates occupancy behavioral energy usage in low-income families through real-time measurement.  The behavioral aspects are presented in terms of thermostat schedules, occupancy presence and major appliance usage.