Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Industrial and Managements Systems Engineering

Committee Chair

Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan

Committee Member

Ashish Nimbarte

Committee Member

Kenneth H. Means

Abstract

The energy consumed by a building can reveal information about the occupants and their activities inside the building. This could be utilized by industries and law enforcement agencies for commercial or legal purposes. Utility data from Smart Meter (SM) readings can reveal detailed information that could be mapped to foretell resident occupancy and type of appliance usage over desired time intervals. However, obtaining SM data in the United States is laborious and subjected to legal and procedural constraints. This research develops a user-driven simulation tool with realistic data options and assumptions of potential human behavior to determine energy usage patterns over time without any utility data. In this work, factors such as occupant number, the possibility of place being occupied, thermostat settings, building envelope, appliances used in households, appliance capacities, and the possibility of using each appliance, weather, and heating-cooling systems specifications are considered. For five specific benchmarked scenarios, the range of the random numbers is specified based on assumed potential human behavior for occupancy and energy-consuming appliances usage possibility, with respect to the time of the day, weekday, and weekends. The simulation is developed using the Visual Basic Application (VBA)® in Microsoft Excel®, based on the discrete-event Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). This simulation generates energy usage patterns and electricity and natural gas costs over 30-minutes intervals for one year. The simulated energy usage and the cost are reflected in the sensitivity analysis by comparing factors such as occupancy, appliance type, and time of the week. This work is intended to facilitate the analysis of building occupants' activities by various stakeholders, subject to all legal provisions that apply. It is not intended for the general public to pursue these activities because legal ramifications might be involved.

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