ABSTRACT

The amount of information on evidence-based design in lighting is mounting, however the facility managers, lighting designers, and researchers are struggling with an implementation of an efficient post-occupancy evaluation system. This research aims to establish a method for Digital Occupancy Assessment for Lighting Evaluation (DOALE) to strengthen evidence-based lighting research supporting value generation for stakeholders. A prototype has been implemented using Azure Digital Twin and the RealEstateCore ontology to investigate how an ontology and a commercial platform, developed to facilitate data integration for smart buildings, can be used for occupancy assessment. The prototype was evaluated using a post occupancy evaluation session where data concerning environmental factors (temperature, illuminance) and data concerning occupants (motion, galvanic skin response, and heart rate) were gathered. Questionnaires concerning occupancy perception were also carried out using mobile technology. Several interviews/discussions were also conducted with the lighting researchers using the prototype to perform the POE. The result indicates that it is possible to use current commercial digital twin technology to implement a post-occupancy evaluation system, but the technology is at present so complex that it is hard for a lighting researcher to adopt the system.