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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Xiang XieORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 by the authors. Effective building operation requires a careful balance between energy conservation and indoor environmental comfort. Although numerous methods have been developed to reduce energy consumption during the operational phase, their objectives and applications vary widely. However, the complexity of building energy management makes it challenging to identify the most suitable methods that simultaneously achieve both comfort and efficiency goals. Existing studies often lack a systematic framework that supports integrated decision-making under comfort constraints. This research aims to address this gap by proposing a decision-making tree for selecting energy conservation methods during building operation with an explicit consideration of indoor environmental comfort. A comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify four main energy-consuming components during building operation: the building envelope, HVAC systems, lighting systems, and plug loads and appliances. Three key comfort indicators—thermal comfort, lighting comfort, and air quality comfort—are defined, and energy conservation methods are categorized into three strategic groups: passive strategies, control optimization strategies, and behavioural intervention strategies. Each method is assessed using a defined set of evaluation criteria. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey is administered for the calibration of the decision tree, incorporating stakeholder preferences and expert judgement. The findings contribute to the advancement of understanding regarding the co-optimization of energy conservation and occupant comfort in building operations.
Author(s): Lin S, Zhang Y, Chen X, Pan C, Dong X, Xie X, Chen L
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Sustainability
Year: 2025
Volume: 17
Issue: 15
Online publication date: 01/08/2025
Acceptance date: 29/07/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2071-1050
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/su17157016
DOI: 10.3390/su17157016
Data Access Statement: All data generated and analysed during this study can be found in the published article.
