Structural equation modeling of energy consumption in residental building

Abstract

Building energy consumption has become a serious issue due to increased energy demand, which contributes heavily to global warming. Based on the reports published by Energy Information and Administration of USA in 2015, Malaysia Green House Gas (GHG) emission is expected to increase by about 74% from 2005 to 2020 if proper mitigation is not put in place. Among the major contributor is building sector, which is generating a massive 40% of total greenhouse gas emitted. There are many literature describing the effect of carbon emissions by residential buildings. Nevertheless, lack of study focus on building energy consumption in relation to socioeconomic, dwelling and climate components. The aim of this study is to establish a structural relationship of socioeconomic, dwelling and climate factors on residential building energy consumption. Four objectives were identified to achieve the aforementioned aim. The first objective was to identify the independent and dependent factors affecting energy consumption in residential buildings. The second objective was to analyze and establish the critical independent factors of energy consumption in residential buildings. The third objective was to analyze and establish the critical dependent factors of energy consumption by residential building occupants. The fourth objective was to formulate a structural relationship based on the established critical independent and dependent factors as a strategy for improving energy consumption in residential buildings. Three benchmarked independent and six dependent factors were established. The descriptive research design employed in the study lead to the structural model development as the central focus of the study. A structured questionnaire consisting of 80 items were used for data collection. The research population was Johor residents and the survey employed 425 returned questionnaires. The collected information was analyzed using descriptive and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The outcome of the five (5) hypothesized research questions show that Climate Factor has a significant and direct effect on building energy consumption and dwelling. Furthermore, results indicate that Socioeconomic and Dwelling factors have neither significant no direct effect on building energy consumption. Based on the results, a Building Energy Consumption structural relation was established using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The established structural relation was validated using convergent and construct validity. The structured model provides useful information to the Malaysian Construction Industry through improved design and awareness on issues related to residential building energy consumption.