User satisfaction and energy use behavior in offices in Qatar

Abstract

The occupant behavior significantly contributes to the total energy use in buildings and its understanding is greatly needed in energy analysis/simulation studies. Uncertainties about the occupant behavior adversely affect the building performance predictability of the simulation models. As field data in Qatar on occupant energy use and behavior was unavailable, we conducted an environmental satisfaction and energy use survey in the city of Doha, Qatar in seven office buildings. Building occupants were highly satisfied with their work environments with respect to most of the environmental parameters excepting acoustics. Access to operable controls such as windows, thermostats improved their satisfaction. Subjects in private offices were more satisfied with their work environments. We noted the self-declared productivity of respondents to be high in general. It was significantly higher in offices with better occupant access to temperature controls. Noise level dissatisfaction was the highest in high partitioned cubicle offices and satisfaction was high in open plan offices. These findings provide vital design direction for new offices and environmental systems design and for managerial motivational campaigns. Practical application: Using field study data, we analyzed the occupant behavior and environmental satisfaction in offices in Doha, Qatar. The Middle East in general and Qatar in particular are known to consume enormous energy for buildings leaving a large ecological footprint. The finding of this study informs the designers of air-conditioning systems about the user behavioral patterns. Further, these findings help the building managers in designing targeted energy awareness/saving campaigns, as user motivation is vital in energy saving.