Prediction of Occupant Behavior toward Natural Ventilation in Japanese Dwellings: Machine Learning Models and Feature Selection

Kaito Furuhashi, Takashi Nakaya () and Yoshihiro Maeda
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Kaito Furuhashi: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Shinshu University, Nagano 380-0928, Japan
Takashi Nakaya: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Shinshu University, Nagano 380-0928, Japan
Yoshihiro Maeda: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Tokyo 125-8585, Japan

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-26

Abstract: Occupant behavior based on natural ventilation has a significant impact on building energy consumption. It is important for the quantification of occupant-behavior models to select observed variables, i.e., features that affect the state of window opening and closing, and to consider machine learning models that are effective in predicting this state. In this study, thermal comfort was investigated, and machine learning data were analyzed for 30 houses in Gifu, Japan. Among the selected machine learning models, the logistic regression and deep neural network models produced consistently excellent results. The accuracy of the prediction of open and closed windows differed among the models, and the factors influencing the window-opening behaviors of the occupants differed from those influencing their window-closing behavior. In the selection of features, the analysis using thermal indices representative of the room and cooling features showed excellent results, indicating that cooling features, which have conflicting relationships with natural ventilation, are useful for improving the accuracy of occupant-behavior prediction. The present study indicates that building designers should incorporate occupant behavior based on natural ventilation into their designs.

Keywords: occupant behavior; natural ventilation; machine learning; prediction; Japanese dwellings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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