Application of mobile positioning occupancy data for building energy simulation: An engineering case study

This paper presents an investigation of whether and how the mobile-internet positioning data can benefit building energy simulation. This paper first summarizes the pros and cons of several mainstream occupancy detection methods. Then, the principle of the proposed mobile-internet-based occupancy detection method is introduced. The methodology of using such occupancy data for building energy simulation is developed. An energy performance model of a complex building in Shanghai with a whole building simulation software EnergyPlus is used as a pilot case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. A calibration is performed using the building automation system data and the mobile-internet-based occupancy data. The simulation results show that mobile-internet-based occupancy data can help improve the building model prediction accuracy.