Daylighting-Based Assessment of Occupant Performance in Educational Buildings

Abstract

The main objective of sustainable buildings is to reduce the depletion of energy, water, and materials caused by facilities during the lifecycle of a building. In 2012, the electric consumption of the U.S. commercial sector, including institutional buildings and public roads lighting, was about 274 kWh. That is about seven percent of total U.S. electricity consumption per year. Specifically, lighting is considered a major energy consumer in the commercial buildings. Nevertheless, most of the research has neglected the occupants’ behavioral factors that influence occupants’ usage of artificial lighting. To assess the behavior of occupants in commercial buildings, the current research considers the effect of environmental, physical, and policy-related factors on daylighting intensity in workplaces in institutional buildings. An occupant performance assessment model, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), is developed in order to investigate the influence of preferred lighting factors on daylighting intensity in office spaces. The data is collected from different institutional buildings using a Delphi technique. In addition, the model has been validated with 88.26% average validity percent (AVP). The main objective of the developed model is to benefit both architects and practitioners as they choose appropriate workplace designs related to the occupants’ preferences for enhancing energy efficiency.