Occupant behaviour modelling for building performance simulation of naturally ventilated school buildings

• Grant number: 22/04295-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 15, 2022
• End date: January 14, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Leticia de Oliveira Neves
• Grantee: Paula Brumer Franceschini
• Supervisor: Marcel Schweiker
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/13474-7 - Assessing the impact of occupant behaviour on the energy performance of AQUA-certified school buildings, BP.DR

Abstract

Occupant behavior (OB) models have been developed during the last decade in order to predict and represent human behavior more accurately in the building performance simulation (BPS). The OB modelling approach usually comprises three main steps: the data collection (pre-processing), the OB model development and evaluation (processing) and the OB model implementation in BPS (post-processing). A systematic literature review regarding the existing OB models showed that the majority of the developed models is context-dependent and focus on, mainly, office and residential contexts, whereas few publications address school buildings. Also, in locations where natural ventilation and mixed-mode are effective strategies for the cooling season, schools' classrooms usually provide manual operation of windows, which reinforces the occupant's role over the environment's performance. This research project aims to develop OB models to predict window, blinds and fan operation in naturally ventilated school buildings and implement them on BPS programs in order to provide more precise input data on OB. The data collection (pre-processing phase) is being performed in three Brazilian school buildings and includes physical monitoring and occupant investigation. Results from the field studies will be used as inputs to the OB model development (processing phase) and the model implementation (post-processing phase). However, the OB modelling approach requires robust knowledge regarding the use of models and algorithms implemented in BPS tools. Therefore, to support the original research project (Assessing the impact of occupant behavior on the thermal performance and on the indoor air quality of AQUA-certified school buildings - FAPESP grant number 2019/13474-7), a four-months academic exchange in the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, is being planned, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Marcel Schweiker, an experienced researcher in the OB investigation and modelling area, that is currently working on several related research projects using the proposed methodology. (AU)