Assessment of Occupant's Behavior on Energy Consumption: Case of Shahid Pakdel Residential Complex in Esfahan

The main share of energy consumption in the country and more than a third of its loss is in residential use. Per capita, household electricity consumption is far from the world standard, and the existence of subsidies for energy carriers in Iran, and consequently their low prices, causes occupants to pay less attention to energy consumption. Due to the policy of eliminating subsidies, the effect of improving buildings and occupant behavior on consumption cannot be ignored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of occupant behavior on energy consumption in residential buildings in Isfahan. The statistical populations are 78 typical retrofitted and non-retrofitted residential buildings. Retrofitted buildings are grouped based on the implemented measures into three categories and compared with non-retrofitted units. In addition, the effect of occupants behavior in the studied cases is assessed through questionnaire surveys and simulations (using Design builder software) to determine the impact of behavior change on reducing energy consumption. According to the results, the implemented retrofit measures reduced electricity consumption by up to 4.6%. While occupants behavior (i.e. electrical appliances and lighting use) could save between three to ten times more than retrofit actions.