Mitra Debrudra, Chu Yiyi, Cetin Kristen
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
Appl Energy. 2022 Oct 15;324:119765. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119765. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
Many aspects of the daily lives of those living in the United States were substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020. A broad diversity of measures was implemented to curb the spread of the virus, many of which included adjustments to where and how people worked, went to school, and otherwise conducted their daily lives compared to pre-pandemic times. This has impacted how residential buildings are used, how much time people spend in their homes, and as a result, how much energy these buildings consume. The main objective of this study is to analyze, at a national scale, the differences in the occupancy schedules and activities conducted in homes in the U.S., as compared to pre-pandemic. 15 years of American Time Use Survey and Current Population Survey data, from 2006 to 2020, was used in this study to analyze the occupancy schedules for both pandemic (2020) and pre-pandemic (2006-2019) times. These impacts were also analyzed with respect to variables including, weekday/weekend, month of the year, age of the occupants, household income, and household size. The impact of the pandemic on occupant schedules were most substantial in the initial months, whereas as the months progressed, these occupancy profiles slowly changed. Across 2020, people spent, on average, 8 % more time (1.9 h) in their home on weekdays, and 3-6 % (1.2 h) on weekend days. The percentage of time spent for different activities and locations within homes were also studied. For 1-member households, their time spent at home decreased whereas for 2-, 3-, and 4- member households, they spent more time at home. Overall, people spent around 45% more time doing office- and work-related activities at home compared to pre-pandemic, which is likely due to increased remote working and schooling. This research helps to improve the understanding of the occupancy presence and absence profiles in U.S. residential buildings due to the pandemic and provides new insights as to modified profiles for researchers, building designers, and policy makers.
2020年，美国新冠肺炎疫情对民众日常生活的诸多方面产生了重大影响。为遏制病毒传播实施了各种各样的措施，其中许多措施涉及人们工作、上学及日常生活的地点和方式较疫情前时期的调整。这影响了住宅建筑的使用方式、人们在家中度过的时间，进而影响了这些建筑的能耗。本研究的主要目的是在全国范围内分析美国住宅中与疫情前相比的居住时间表和家庭活动差异。本研究使用了2006年至2020年15年的美国时间使用调查和当前人口调查数据，以分析疫情期间（2020年）和疫情前（2006 - 2019年）的居住时间表。还针对工作日/周末、一年中的月份、居住者年龄、家庭收入和家庭规模等变量分析了这些影响。疫情对居住者时间表的影响在最初几个月最为显著，而随着时间推移，这些居住模式逐渐缓慢变化。在2020年全年，人们工作日平均在家多待8%的时间（1.9小时），周末多待3 - 6%（1.2小时）。还研究了在家中不同活动和地点所花费时间的百分比。对于单人家庭，他们在家时间减少，而对于两人、三人及四人家庭，他们在家时间增加。总体而言，与疫情前相比，人们在家中进行办公和工作相关活动的时间增加了约45%，这可能是由于远程工作和上学增加所致。这项研究有助于增进对疫情期间美国住宅建筑居住情况的理解，并为研究人员、建筑设计师和政策制定者提供关于居住模式变化的新见解。
