Application of agent based modeling to simulate diffusion of energy saving policies among occupants based on bass diffusion model

Providing feedback to occupants will affect their energy consumption patterns to save more energy and reduce emission. Currently, energy simulation software programs such as eQUEST and Energy Plus are the most common software programs for simulating energy consumption in buildings. Although these software programs help designers to have a better understanding about building energy consumption in the design phase, the obtained results display some deviations with actual statistical data. The reason of these deviations can be attributed to the lack in consideration of the effects that occupants can have on each other during working hours. Also, energy managers cannot have a reliable comparison about efficiency of different energy saving policies due to abandoning these occupancy behavior factors. The current paper proposes an agent-based approach to simulate the impact of occupancy behavior on energy consumption and emission production in commercial buildings. Two models were developed in this study to investigate potential energy efficiency improvement through change in occupant’s behaviorial pattern over time. The results showed that there is a considerable potential in energy preservation and emission reduction by providing feedback to occupants