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Energy Consumption Influenced By Occupant Behavior: A Study In Residential Buildings In Panama

Published in: Prospective and trends in technology and skills for sustainable social development. Leveraging emerging technologies to construct the future: Proceedings of the 19th LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering, Education and Technology
Date of Conference: July 19-23, 2021
Location of Conference: Virtual
Authors: Miguel Chen Austin (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, PA)
Luisa Arnedo (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, PA)
Olga Yuil (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, PA)
Dafni Mora (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, PA)
Full Paper: #337

Abstract:

To propose a framework to assess the influence of occupants’ behavior in the energy consumption within the residential sector in a case study in Panama, this work investigates the actual situation regarding building internal characteristics and energy consumption of two types of residential buildings to help built a database. An experimental study was carried out in Panama City, tropical climate, where four houses and three apartments were instrumented in terms of indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, employing wireless data loggers. As a complement, to collect general households' data and energy consumption, i.e., electric bills, a survey constituted of 43 questions accompanied with small incentives was implemented. With a return response rate of 39.6%, it was possible to show that occupants’ behavior and preferences were the critical causes of higher electrical consumption since ACs were frequently set at temperatures within the lower values of standard comfort limits.