Occupancy profile of residential buildings with remote workers

Building simulation is a powerful tool for evaluating building performance and testing different design strategies to boost energy efficiency. Building energy codes and labelling systems recommend simulation as an assessment tool for new construction.

To do so, the proposed building is usually compared to a baseline simulated under typical weather conditions and the standard occupant behaviour profiles. Commonly these assumptions are defined based on the energy modelers experience; this has become part of standard procedures over time. For example, occupancy is usually assumed in the bedroom during sleep hours (late night through early morning), in the living room in the evening, and most occupants being absent during daytime. However, recent data shows that post-pandemic work arrangements have changed due to hybrid work.

The middle of the day during which higher solar incidence and peak temperatures occur is now a commonly occupied period. However, little information is available on how to define such home occupancy patterns to incorporate remote or hybrid work trends. Therefore, this article is aimed at estimating occupancy patterns based on data from a sample of monitored dwellings occupied by remote workers.

Twenty-five homes were monitored for 9 months in the Great Sydney area between January and October of 2024. Each dwelling was equipped with IoT-based environmental monitoring system with passive infrared (PIR) sensors installed in the workspace, bedroom, and living room. Throughout the monitoring period, the occupants received a short survey twice a week to identify, among other variables, the days they were working from home.

The findings show noticeable differences in the probability of occupant presence between when they worked from home and when they did not. These findings can help energy modelers define more realistic remote workers’ occupancy profiles and suggest modifications of assumptions embedded in simulation considering the permanence of hybrid work.