. 2022 Jun 28;9(1):369.

doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01475-3.

A Global Building Occupant Behavior Database

Bing Dong¹, Yapan Liu², Wei Mu², Zixin Jiang², Pratik Pandey², Tianzhen Hong³, Bjarne Olesen⁴, Thomas Lawrence⁵, Zheng O'Neil⁶, Clinton Andrews⁷, Elie Azar^{8

9}, Karol Bandurski¹⁰, Ronita Bardhan^{11

12}, Mateus Bavaresco¹³, Christiane Berger¹⁴, Jane Burry¹⁵, Salvatore Carlucci¹⁶, Karin Chvatal¹⁷, Marilena De Simone¹⁸, Silvia Erba¹⁹, Nan Gao²⁰, Lindsay T Graham²¹, Camila Grassi¹⁷, Rishee Jain²², Sanjay Kumar²³, Mikkel Kjærgaard²⁴, Sepideh Korsavi²⁵, Jared Langevin³, Zhengrong Li²⁶, Aleksandra Lipczynska^{27

28}, Ardeshir Mahdavi²⁹, Jeetika Malik^{3

11}, Max Marschall³⁰, Zoltan Nagy³¹, Leticia Neves³², William O'Brien⁹, Song Pan³³, June Young Park³⁴, Ilaria Pigliautile³⁵, Cristina Piselli³⁵, Anna Laura Pisello³⁵, Hamed Nabizadeh Rafsanjani³⁶, Ricardo Forgiarini Rupp^{4

13}, Flora Salim³⁷, Stefano Schiavon²¹, Jens Schwee²⁴, Andrew Sonta²², Marianne Touchie³⁸, Andreas Wagner³⁹, Sinead Walsh⁴⁰, Zhe Wang³, David M Webber⁴⁰, Da Yan⁴¹, Paolo Zangheri⁴², Jingsi Zhang⁴³, Xiang Zhou⁴³, Xin Zhou⁴⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, 223 Link Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA. bidong@syr.edu.
² Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, 223 Link Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA.
³ Building Technology and Urban Systems Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark.
⁵ 106 Driftmier Engineering Center Annex, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 400 Bizzell St, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
⁷ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy, The State University of New Jersey, 33 Livingston Ave #383, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
⁸ Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Institute of Environmental Engineering and Building Installations, Poznań University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznań, Poland.
¹¹ Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
¹² Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, CB2 1PX, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
¹³ Laboratory of Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
¹⁴ Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
¹⁵ School of Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, 3122, Australia.
¹⁶ Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹⁷ Institute of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São-carlense, 400, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13565-905, Brazil.
¹⁸ Department of Environmental Engineering (DIAm), University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
¹⁹ eERG - end-use Efficiency Research Group, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
²⁰ School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
²¹ Center for the Built Environment, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
²² Urban Informatics Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega Rm 269B, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
²³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144011, India.
²⁴ The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
²⁵ Department of Built Environment, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK.
²⁶ Key Laboratory of Performance Evolution and Control for Engineering Structures, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
²⁷ Department of Heating, Ventilation and Dust Removal Technology, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland.
²⁸ Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore Limited, Singapore, Singapore.
²⁹ Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria.
³⁰ School of Architecture and Urban Design, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
³¹ Intelligent Environments Laboratory, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
³² School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
³³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Built Environment and Energy Efficient Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
³⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 76010, USA.
³⁵ Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125, Perugia, Italy.
³⁶ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, 42101, USA.
³⁷ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia.
³⁸ Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
³⁹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Building Science Group, Karlsruhe, Germany.
⁴⁰ Scanalytics Inc. N17W24222 Riverwood Dr. Suite 100, Waukesha, WI, 53188, USA.
⁴¹ Building Energy Research Center, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
⁴² Enea, Ispra, VA, Italy.
⁴³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁴⁴ School of Architecture, Southeast University, #2 Si Pai Lou, Nanjing, 210096, China.

PMID: 35764639
PMCID: PMC9240009
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01475-3

A Global Building Occupant Behavior Database

Bing Dong et al. Sci Data. 2022.

. 2022 Jun 28;9(1):369.

doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01475-3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, 223 Link Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA. bidong@syr.edu.
² Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, 223 Link Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA.
³ Building Technology and Urban Systems Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark.
⁵ 106 Driftmier Engineering Center Annex, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 400 Bizzell St, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
⁷ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy, The State University of New Jersey, 33 Livingston Ave #383, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
⁸ Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Institute of Environmental Engineering and Building Installations, Poznań University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznań, Poland.
¹¹ Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
¹² Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, CB2 1PX, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
¹³ Laboratory of Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
¹⁴ Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
¹⁵ School of Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, 3122, Australia.
¹⁶ Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹⁷ Institute of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São-carlense, 400, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13565-905, Brazil.
¹⁸ Department of Environmental Engineering (DIAm), University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
¹⁹ eERG - end-use Efficiency Research Group, Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
²⁰ School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
²¹ Center for the Built Environment, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
²² Urban Informatics Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega Rm 269B, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
²³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, 144011, India.
²⁴ The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
²⁵ Department of Built Environment, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK.
²⁶ Key Laboratory of Performance Evolution and Control for Engineering Structures, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
²⁷ Department of Heating, Ventilation and Dust Removal Technology, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland.
²⁸ Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore Limited, Singapore, Singapore.
²⁹ Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria.
³⁰ School of Architecture and Urban Design, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
³¹ Intelligent Environments Laboratory, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
³² School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
³³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Built Environment and Energy Efficient Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
³⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 76010, USA.
³⁵ Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125, Perugia, Italy.
³⁶ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, 42101, USA.
³⁷ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia.
³⁸ Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
³⁹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Building Science Group, Karlsruhe, Germany.
⁴⁰ Scanalytics Inc. N17W24222 Riverwood Dr. Suite 100, Waukesha, WI, 53188, USA.
⁴¹ Building Energy Research Center, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
⁴² Enea, Ispra, VA, Italy.
⁴³ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁴⁴ School of Architecture, Southeast University, #2 Si Pai Lou, Nanjing, 210096, China.

PMID: 35764639
PMCID: PMC9240009
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01475-3

Abstract

This paper introduces a database of 34 field-measured building occupant behavior datasets collected from 15 countries and 39 institutions across 10 climatic zones covering various building types in both commercial and residential sectors. This is a comprehensive global database about building occupant behavior. The database includes occupancy patterns (i.e., presence and people count) and occupant behaviors (i.e., interactions with devices, equipment, and technical systems in buildings). Brick schema models were developed to represent sensor and room metadata information. The database is publicly available, and a website was created for the public to access, query, and download specific datasets or the whole database interactively. The database can help to advance the knowledge and understanding of realistic occupancy patterns and human-building interactions with building systems (e.g., light switching, set-point changes on thermostats, fans on/off, etc.) and envelopes (e.g., window opening/closing). With these more realistic inputs of occupants' schedules and their interactions with buildings and systems, building designers, energy modelers, and consultants can improve the accuracy of building energy simulation and building load forecasting.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Summary of the ASHRAE Global Occupant Behavior Database by building types.

**Fig. 2**
Overview of the technical approach.

**Fig. 3**
Global Contributions to the ASHRAE Occupant Behavior Database.

**Fig. 5**
View of the Brick model of Dataset 20.

**Fig. 6**
Historical occupant number data from Dataset 32.

**Fig. 7**
Historical occupant number data from Dataset 32 in one week.

**Fig. 8**
Data distribution of door openings from Dataset 5.

**Fig. 9**
Cross-comparison of first arrival and last departure between occupant presence datasets from different countries.

**Fig. 10**
Window operation coupled with indoor and outdoor temperature in Dataset 5.

**Fig. 11**
Outdoor temperature distributions by hour in different datasets and climate zones. Dataset 16 – Aw; Dataset 5 – Cfa; Dataset 7- Cfb; Dataset 14 – Dwa.

**Fig. 12**
Outdoor relative humidity distributions by hour in different datasets and climate zones. Dataset 16 – Aw; Dataset 5 – Cfa; Dataset 7- Cfb; Dataset 14 – Dwa.

**Fig. 13**
Outdoor solar radiation distributions by hour in different datasets and climate zones. Dataset 5 – Cfa; Dataset 7- Cfb; Dataset 14 – Dwa.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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1. Arisoy, A. et al. NZEB Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Mediterranean Regions - Part 1. European Guidebook 28. (Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning associations (REHVA) 2019).
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1. Çakan, M. et al. NZEB Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Mediterranean Regions - Part 2. European Guidebook 31. (Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning associations (REHVA), 2021).
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A Global Building Occupant Behavior Database

Affiliations

A Global Building Occupant Behavior Database

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources