Characterizing Energy-Related Occupant Behavior in Residential Buildings: Evidence From a Survey in Beijing, China

Abstract

The buildings sector, closely linked to human activities and responsible for 32% of global final energy consumption and one quarter of global energy-related CO2 emissions, is critical for the realization of both sustainable development goals and the 1.5°C goal for climate change. Despite the progress in energy efficiency technologies and energy intensity reduction, the buildings sector maintains an increase of approximately 1% per year in both final energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions. The conventional approach of solely depending on technology development and penetration is insufficient to guarantee our green and sustainable future for buildings, partly due to many other factors (e.g. socioeconomic, political and human) at play. In particular, the role of individuals, specifically energy-related behavior of occupants in reality, has long been overlooked and poorly understood. This study, therefore, investigates various energy-related behaviors of occupants in residential buildings with empirical data from a survey in Beijing, China, aiming to present a detailed, in-depth and clearer picture of occupant behavior with respect to energy use in buildings. Specifically, we explored typical energy-related behavior characteristics of occupants in residential buildings and relevant influencing factors, as well as the attitude-behavior gap for occupants in residential energy consumption. We obtained a total of 1003 valid responses with a set of questionnaire quality control methods. Based on various end uses in residential buildings, occupant behaviors with respect to space heating and cooling, water heating, cooking, lighting, appliances, and other equipment were thoroughly analyzed and discussed. In particular, this study focused on the characteristics of one-shot purchase behavior and habitual usage behavior concerning household energy-consuming appliances and equipment. Typically, for purchase behavior, occupants display an energy-conserving tendency when purchasing household energy end-use appliances and equipment (e.g. AC, refrigerator, and washing machine), as they are more likely to buy energy efficient products for various products although it varies for the ownership rate of different household products. In terms of usage/operation behavior, despite an average temperature of around 23.5 ℃ for space heating and 26 ℃ for space cooling, occupants tend to set a slightly higher heating temperature at night (23.61 ℃) than during daytime (23.47 ℃), displaying a less energy efficient inclination for usage of space heating equipment. In addition, they mainly exhibit an energy-conserving pattern for habitual reaction around appliances, thermal comfort, and lighting. Furthermore, an attitude-behavior gap exists with respect to purchase behavior and habitual reactions towards thermal comfort and lighting. Socio-demographic and building-related factors were found to be correlated with different energy-related behaviors. These findings offer a comprehensive and specific perspective for better understanding occupant behavior in residential buildings based on detailed empirical evidence, which may be further integrated into the existing policy framework for building energy efficiency.

Keywords: Occupant behavior, Residential buildings, Building energy efficiency, Building, Behavior