Energy performance of an occupancy-based climate control (OBCC) technology in guest rooms

This paper presents the results of a detailed energy savings analysis ofthe use ofoccupancy-based climate control (OBCC) technology in guestrooms using a calibrated building energy simulation based on one year ofdetailed energy, indoor environment quality (IEQ), and occupancy measurements of 14 guest rooms in the case-study hotel building in Washington, DC. A calibrated building energy simulation was selected to normalize the key variables affecting the performance of the OBCC technology (i.e., weather, indoor temperatures, and occupancy effects), which were not properly adjusted in previously reported savings. As a result, the simulated energy savings of the OBCC control algorithm installed in the case-study hotel rooms are about 29.4% of the heating and cooling energy use (i.e., $2.27/m² [$0.21/ft²]) with a 6.5% increase in the hours the loads were not met during occupied hours. The analysis also shows lower savings were calculated for smaller temperature setback/setup ranges.