An empirical study on energy usage and occupant comfort of occupant-centric control systems in offices

While intelligent control systems show potential for reducing building energy consumption, comprehensive field studies that demonstrate simultaneous energy savings and occupant comfort in real-world office settings remain limited. In a 129-day experiment involving 69 volunteers, we evaluated an Occupant-Centric Control (OCC) system designed to optimize energy efficiency without compromising occupant comfort. A four-stage, two-group experimental design was employed, incorporating environmental sensors, occupancy sensors, and wireless controllers. Structured questionnaires were administered to both test and control groups at each stage. The comparative analysis indicates that in open office areas, the OCC system achieved average reductions of 11.87% in overall room energy usage, along with improvements in thermal comfort and minor impacts on perceived stress and subjective vitality. Specifically, air conditioning usage hours were reduced by 25.96%, and lighting usage hours by 13.36%. These findings provide empirical support for adopting OCC systems in office environments to enhance energy savings and occupant comfort across multiple domains.