Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices
The advancements in sensor and communication technologies drive the rapid developments in the applications of occupancy and indoor environmental monitoring in buildings. Currently, the installation standards for sensors are scarce and the recommendations for sensor positionings are very general. How...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6296 |
| _version_ | 1827680829135912960 |
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| author | Shoaib Azizi Ramtin Rabiee Gireesh Nair Thomas Olofsson |
| author_facet | Shoaib Azizi Ramtin Rabiee Gireesh Nair Thomas Olofsson |
| author_sort | Shoaib Azizi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The advancements in sensor and communication technologies drive the rapid developments in the applications of occupancy and indoor environmental monitoring in buildings. Currently, the installation standards for sensors are scarce and the recommendations for sensor positionings are very general. However, inadequate sensor positioning might diminish the reliability of sensor data, which could have serious impacts on the intended applications such as the performance of demand-controlled HVAC systems and their energy use. Thus, there is a need to understand how sensor positioning may affect the sensor data, specifically when using multi-sensor devices in which several sensors are being bundled together. This study is based on the data collected from 18 multi-sensor devices installed in three single-occupant offices (six sensors in each office). Each multi-sensor device included sensors to measure passive infrared (PIR) radiation, temperature, CO<sub>2</sub>, humidity, and illuminance. The results show that the positions of PIR and CO<sub>2</sub> sensors significantly affect the reliability of occupancy detection. The typical approach of positioning the sensors on the ceiling, in the middle of offices, may lead to relatively unreliable data. In this case, the PIR sensor in that position has only 60% accuracy of presence detection. Installing the sensors under office desks could increase the accuracy of presence detection to 84%. These two sensor positions are highlighted in sensor fusion analysis as they could reach the highest accuracy compared to other pairs of PIR sensors. Moreover, sensor positioning can affect various indoor environmental parameters, especially temperature and illuminance measurements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:02:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ea7f71cbf2445498ac83a754d82b0e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:02:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ea7f71cbf2445498ac83a754d82b0e52023-11-22T16:02:15ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-10-011419629610.3390/en14196296Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant OfficesShoaib Azizi0Ramtin Rabiee1Gireesh Nair2Thomas Olofsson3Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, SwedenDepartment of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, SwedenDepartment of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, SwedenDepartment of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, SwedenThe advancements in sensor and communication technologies drive the rapid developments in the applications of occupancy and indoor environmental monitoring in buildings. Currently, the installation standards for sensors are scarce and the recommendations for sensor positionings are very general. However, inadequate sensor positioning might diminish the reliability of sensor data, which could have serious impacts on the intended applications such as the performance of demand-controlled HVAC systems and their energy use. Thus, there is a need to understand how sensor positioning may affect the sensor data, specifically when using multi-sensor devices in which several sensors are being bundled together. This study is based on the data collected from 18 multi-sensor devices installed in three single-occupant offices (six sensors in each office). Each multi-sensor device included sensors to measure passive infrared (PIR) radiation, temperature, CO<sub>2</sub>, humidity, and illuminance. The results show that the positions of PIR and CO<sub>2</sub> sensors significantly affect the reliability of occupancy detection. The typical approach of positioning the sensors on the ceiling, in the middle of offices, may lead to relatively unreliable data. In this case, the PIR sensor in that position has only 60% accuracy of presence detection. Installing the sensors under office desks could increase the accuracy of presence detection to 84%. These two sensor positions are highlighted in sensor fusion analysis as they could reach the highest accuracy compared to other pairs of PIR sensors. Moreover, sensor positioning can affect various indoor environmental parameters, especially temperature and illuminance measurements.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6296data reliabilitysensor placementIoTsensor accuracyPIR sensorssensor fusion |
| spellingShingle | Shoaib Azizi Ramtin Rabiee Gireesh Nair Thomas Olofsson Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices Energies data reliability sensor placement IoT sensor accuracy PIR sensors sensor fusion |
| title | Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices |
| title_full | Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices |
| title_short | Effects of Positioning of Multi-Sensor Devices on Occupancy and Indoor Environmental Monitoring in Single-Occupant Offices |
| title_sort | effects of positioning of multi sensor devices on occupancy and indoor environmental monitoring in single occupant offices |
| topic | data reliability sensor placement IoT sensor accuracy PIR sensors sensor fusion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6296 |
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