Occupancy modelling of buildings based on CO2 concentration measurements: an experimental analysis

The problem of real-time estimation of occupancy of buildings (number of people in various zones at every time instant) is relevant to a number of emerging applications that achieve high energy efficiency through feedback control. The measurement of CO2 concentration can be considered an important indicator that allows to define the occupation of closed and crowded spaces. Interesting cases can be school buildings and other buildings used in civil and residential (shopping centers, hospitals, etc.). The primary contribution of this paper is an experimental analysis of some structures, with different model for occupancy simulation in multi-zone multi-occupant buildings and its preliminary validation from experimental data acquired in different cases. The experimental data are acquired in the buildings of the School of Engineering of the University of Pisa. The acquired data are used to present some graphical models and perform occupancy estimates. Starting from an accurate analysis of the data, attempts are made to define a preliminary estimation method through the development of a mathematical models of occupancy dynamics in a building, which show promising results.