Simulation-aided occupant-centric building design: A critical review of tools, methods, and applications

Abstract

Occupants are active participants in their built environment, affecting its performance while simultaneously being affected by its design and indoor environmental conditions. With recent advances in computer modeling, simulation tools, and analysis techniques, topics such as human-building interactions and occupant behavior have gained significant interest in the literature given their premise of improving building design processes and operating strategies. In practice, the focus of occupant-centric literature has been mostly geared towards the latter (i.e., operation), leaving the implications on building design practices underexplored. This paper fills the gap by providing a critical review of existing studies applying computerbased modeling and simulation to guide occupant-centric building design. The reviewed papers are organized along four main themes, namely occupant-centric: (i) metrics of building performance, (ii) modeling and simulation approaches, (iii) design methods and applications, and (iv) supporting practices and mechanisms. Important barriers are identified for a more effective application of occupant-centric building design practices including the limited consideration of metrics beyond energy efficiency (e.g., occupant well-being and space planning), the limited implementation and validation of the proposed methods, and the lack of integration of occupant behavior modeling in existing building performance simulation tools. Future research directions include the need for large-scale international data collection efforts to move from generic assumptions about occupant behavior to specific/localized knowledge, the need for improved metrics of measuring building performance, as well as the need for industry practices, such as building codes, to promote an occupant-in-the-loop approach to the building design process.

A data‐driven modeling and analysis approach to test the resilience of green buildings to uncertainty in operation patterns

“…One of the study's key findings was that a 49% to 79% increase in energy consumption could occur as a result of poor practice during the operational phase,however, good practices can contribute 15% to 29% to reducing energy consumption. The findings of the above studies confirm that operational parameters are critical factors in building performance, motivating the need for related research efforts on topics such as occupant‐centric building controls, 39 occupant‐related features in common building simulation tools, 40 and occupant‐centric design practices and applications 41 . In the latter, research on robust design strategies is particularly relevant to the current paper and is further discussed next.…”

“…The findings of the above studies confirm that operational parameters are critical factors in building performance, motivating the need for related research efforts on topics such as occupant-centric building controls, 39 occupant-related features in common building simulation tools, 40 and occupant-centric design practices and applications. 41 In the latter, research on robust design strategies is particularly relevant to the current paper and is further discussed next.…”

Introducing IEA EBC annex 79: Key challenges and opportunities in the field of occupant-centric building design and operation

“…It follows that building design can be greatly improved with regards to energy performance and occupant comfort. In addition, the advent of advanced occupant modeling opens many new opportunities to pursue novel design procedures, such as robust design, design optimization, and generative design [89][90][91].…”

“…The second review [89] collected and investigated previous efforts in a variety of computational design support methods (including robust design, parametric design and optimization) with a focus on the role of occupants. The review explored occupant-related building performance metrics, modeling and simulation approaches, design methods and applications together with the supporting mechanisms associated with occupant-centric design and identified the barriers for more effective application of occupant-centric building design practices.…”

“…Occupant-centric design methods are greatly needed [89]. However, it is important to demonstrate them in practice to: 1) show that they can work on real buildings (e.g., not merely shoebox office models), and 2) publicize the importance of occupant-centric simulation-aided design to a variety of stakeholders, such as building developers, architects, engineers, and energy modelers.…”