An agent-based stochastic Occupancy Simulator
Authored by Yixing Chen, Tianzhen Hong, Xuan Luo
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1007/s12273-017-0379-7
Sponsors:
United States Department of Energy (DOE)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
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Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Occupancy has significant impacts on building performance. However, in
current building performance simulation programs, occupancy inputs are
static and lack diversity, contributing to discrepancies between the
simulated and actual building performance. This paper presents an
Occupancy Simulator that simulates the stochastic behavior of occupant
presence and movement in buildings, capturing the spatial and temporal
occupancy diversity. Each occupant and each space in the building are
explicitly simulated as an agent with their profiles of stochastic
behaviors. The occupancy behaviors are represented with three types of
models: (1) the status transition events (e.g., first arrival in office)
simulated with probability distribution model, (2) the random moving
events (e.g., from one office to another) simulated with a homogeneous
Markov chain model, and (3) the meeting events simulated with a new
stochastic model. A hierarchical data model was developed for the
Occupancy Simulator, which reduces the amount of data input by using the
concepts of occupant types and space types. Finally, a case study of a
small office building is presented to demonstrate the use of the
Simulator to generate detailed annual sub-hourly occupant schedules for
individual spaces and the whole building. The Simulator is a web
application freely available to the public and capable of performing a
detailed stochastic simulation of occupant presence and movement in
buildings. Future work includes enhancements in the meeting event model,
consideration of personal absent days, verification and validation of
the simulated occupancy results, and expansion for use with residential
buildings.
Tags
Agent-based modeling
behavior
Performance
Occupant behavior
Buildings
Ontology
Model
Occupant presence and movement
Occupancy model stochastic model
Meeting event model
Personalized ventilation system
Dnas framework