An Empirical Study on the Energy Consumption in Residential Buildings after Adopting Green Building Standards

TLDR

Recent decades have seen extensive research into building technologies to cut energy use, yet quantifiable evidence for residential buildings meeting green building standards is lacking. This study investigates green home energy efficiency and its interaction with resident behaviors to address this evidence gap. Using an integrated energy‑simulation and multivariate‑regression approach on data from more than 300 green‑standard residential units, the authors analyze energy performance. The analysis reveals a 43 % annual reduction in energy usage and expenditures for a typical American home and identifies four resident behaviors that affect the actual efficiency of green building technology.

Abstract

In the past decades, a tremendous effort has been put into research and development of improved building systems and technologies to reduce the building energy consumption and advance energy efficiency. However, there is little to no published quantifiable evidence that assesses the energy consumption and efficiency for residential buildings with a context of green building standards. To fill this gap of information, this paper reports an empirical study that investigates the green home energy efficiency and its interaction with resident behaviors. This work uses an integrated approach of energy simulation and multivariate regression modeling. The data are from a sample of more than 300 residential units which meet the green building standards. Findings identify 43% of the annual reduction in energy usage and energy expenditures for a typical American home. Findings also identify four energy-consumption-related resident behaviors depending on which the actual energy efficiency performance of green building technology may differ.