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ABSTRACT

The heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is a major contributor to building energy consumption. In this paper, the energy savings potential of implementing occupant centric control (OCC) for HVAC systems in office buildings is quantified on a nationwide basis. Firstly, the mediumsized office from the DOE Commercial Prototype Building Models was modified to facilitate the research purpose. Then, both a baseline case and two OCC cases were created based on ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2016 and ASHRAE Guideline 36. Next, the baseline case and the two OCC cases were further modified to represent different versions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (e.g., ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004, ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010), and all the 16 representative climates in the U.S. (e.g., Buffalo, NY for climate zone 5A). Finally, the HVAC energy consumptions of the medium-sized office model for different climates and different versions of ASHRAE Standard are analyzed to understand the energy savings potential of such an OCC on a nationwide basis.