An integrated heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is one of the most important components to determining the energy consumption of the entire building. For commercial buildings, particularly office buildings and schools, the heating and cooling loads are largely dependent on the occupant behavioral patterns such as occupancy rates and their activities. Therefore, if HVAC systems can respond to dynamic occupancy profiles, there is a large potential to reduce energy consumption. However, currently, most of existing HVAC systems operate without the ability to adjust supply air rate accordingly in response to the dynamic profiles of occupants. Due to this inefficiency, much of the HVAC energy use is wasted, particularly when the conditioned spaces are unoccupied or under-occupied (less occupants than the intended design). The solution to this inefficiency is to control HVAC system based on dynamic occupant profiles. Motivated by this, the research provides a real-time vision-based occupant pattern recognition system for occupancy counting as well as activity level classification. The proposed vision-based system is integrated into the existing HVAC simulation model of a U.S. office building to investigate the level of energy savings as well as thermal comfort improvement compared to traditional existing HVAC control system. The research is divided into two parts. The first part is to use an open source library based on neural network for real-time occupant counting and background subtraction method for activity level classification with a common static RGB camera. The second part utilizes a DOE reference office building model with customized dynamic occupancy schedule, including the number of occupant schedule, activity schedule and clothing insulation schedule to identify the potential energy savings compared with conventional HVAC control system. The research results revealed that vision-based systems can detect occupants and classify activity level in real time with accuracy around 90% when there are not many occlusions. Additionally, the dynamic occupant schedules indeed can bring about energy savings. Details of vision-based system, methodology, simulation configurations and results will be presented in the paper as well as potential opportunities for use throughout multiple types of commercial buildings, specifically focused on office and educational institutes.

Boas alternativas nas escolhas de materiais construtivos em um projeto arquitetônico possibilitam de forma mais assertiva os aspectos de conforto térmico em habitações de interesse social. A existência de normas que determinem alguns parâmetros de conforto térmico não significa que a unidade habitacional esteja dentro dos parâmetros ideais, já que dependem de bons projetos, correta execução da obra e estarem adequadas às restrições econômicas dos usuários. Esta pesquisa teve como motivação revelar as reclamações dos usuários referentes ao conforto térmico no interior das unidades habitacionais do BNH de Santos, construído em 1969, identificando quais eram os principais problemas térmicos ocorridos nestas unidades habitacionais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar se os usuários encontram-se dentro dos padrões de conforto térmico estabelecidos por normas existentes e recomendar possíveis soluções que colaborem para que os apartamentos estejam dentro dos parâmetros de conforto térmico adequados. Através de relatos dos usuários, foi proposta uma medição no local cuja finalidade era identificar se havia compatibilidade entre os resultados obtidos na APO aplicada com os resultados medidos e identificar se estas compatibilidades aplicavam-se as normas de conforto térmico existentes. Simulações no software energyplus foram realizadas com a finalidade de propor melhorias projetuais nos apartamentos que estivessem em desconforto térmico. Os resultados mostram que a maioria dos usuários entende que, ao longo do ano, os apartamentos possuem temperaturas elevadas, gerando desconforto térmico. Estes desconfortos ocorrem possivelmente à ocupação de cada apartamento, além da influência da radiação solar direta que cada apartamento recebe ao longo do dia. / The current wide range of alternatives in building materials makes it possible for architects to have greater control over aspects affecting thermal comfort in their designs for social dwelling. The existence of rules governing thermal comfort parameters does not mean that dwelling units are always constructed within the optimal parameters, as this depends on the quality of projects, the correct execution of construction work, and the economic constraints of users. This study was motivated by user complaints relating to thermal comfort inside the BNH Santos dwelling units, which were built in 1969. These complaints identify the main thermal problems occurring in the dwellings units. The objective of this research is to verify whether users live within the existing standards for thermal comfort, and to recommend possible solutions so that the apartments can all be within proper thermal comfort parameters. Based on reports from users, measurements were taken on site to determine whether there was compatibility between the results obtained in the POE and the measured results, and to identify whether any compatibilities applied to existing standards of thermal comfort. Energyplus software simulations were carried out, in order to determine proposed improvements to apartments whose inhabitants were experiencing thermal discomfort. The results show that most users understand that, during the year, the apartments have high temperatures that generate thermal discomfort. This discomfort may occur as a result of the occupation of each apartment, and may go beyond the influence of the direct sunlight that each apartment receives throughout the day.

Boas alternativas nas escolhas de materiais construtivos em um projeto arquitetônico possibilitam de forma mais assertiva os aspectos de conforto térmico em habitações de interesse social. A existência de normas que determinem alguns parâmetros de conforto térmico não significa que a unidade habitacional esteja dentro dos parâmetros ideais, já que dependem de bons projetos, correta execução da obra e estarem adequadas às restrições econômicas dos usuários. Esta pesquisa teve como motivação revelar as reclamações dos usuários referentes ao conforto térmico no interior das unidades habitacionais do BNH de Santos, construído em 1969, identificando quais eram os principais problemas térmicos ocorridos nestas unidades habitacionais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar se os usuários encontram-se dentro dos padrões de conforto térmico estabelecidos por normas existentes e recomendar possíveis soluções que colaborem para que os apartamentos estejam dentro dos parâmetros de conforto térmico adequados. Através de relatos dos usuários, foi proposta uma medição no local cuja finalidade era identificar se havia compatibilidade entre os resultados obtidos na APO aplicada com os resultados medidos e identificar se estas compatibilidades aplicavam-se as normas de conforto térmico existentes. Simulações no software energyplus foram realizadas com a finalidade de propor melhorias projetuais nos apartamentos que estivessem em desconforto térmico. Os resultados mostram que a maioria dos usuários entende que, ao longo do ano, os apartamentos possuem temperaturas elevadas, gerando desconforto térmico. Estes desconfortos ocorrem possivelmente à ocupação de cada apartamento, além da influência da radiação solar direta que cada apartamento recebe ao longo do dia. / The current wide range of alternatives in building materials makes it possible for architects to have greater control over aspects affecting thermal comfort in their designs for social dwelling. The existence of rules governing thermal comfort parameters does not mean that dwelling units are always constructed within the optimal parameters, as this depends on the quality of projects, the correct execution of construction work, and the economic constraints of users. This study was motivated by user complaints relating to thermal comfort inside the BNH Santos dwelling units, which were built in 1969. These complaints identify the main thermal problems occurring in the dwellings units. The objective of this research is to verify whether users live within the existing standards for thermal comfort, and to recommend possible solutions so that the apartments can all be within proper thermal comfort parameters. Based on reports from users, measurements were taken on site to determine whether there was compatibility between the results obtained in the POE and the measured results, and to identify whether any compatibilities applied to existing standards of thermal comfort. Energyplus software simulations were carried out, in order to determine proposed improvements to apartments whose inhabitants were experiencing thermal discomfort. The results show that most users understand that, during the year, the apartments have high temperatures that generate thermal discomfort. This discomfort may occur as a result of the occupation of each apartment, and may go beyond the influence of the direct sunlight that each apartment receives throughout the day.