IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v183y2016icp193-201.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the influential features on the regional energy use intensity of residential buildings based on Random Forests

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Jun
  • Cheng, Jack C.P.

Abstract

Efficient and effective city planning in improving the energy performance of residential buildings requires a clear understanding of the influential features. Previous studies on modeling the relationships between influential features and the energy consumption have several gaps and limitations, such as the linear modeling methodology and insufficient consideration of particular features. This study therefore aims at investigating the influence of 171 possibly related features on the regional energy use intensity (EUI) of residential buildings using a non-linear regression algorithm, namely Random Forests (RF). The New York City (NYC) was focused on due to data availability. The 171 features covered seven different aspects, which are building, economy, education, environment, households, surrounding, and transportation. The average site EUI of the residential buildings in each Block Group (BG) was set as the dependent variable. The regression model was compared to the models using typical linear methods, such as Multiple Linear Regression and Lasso. The results show that the RF model achieved a lower mean square error. In addition, the top 20 influential features were identified based on the out-of-bag estimation in RF. Results show that less percentage of well-educated people, higher percentage of households heated by fuel oil, lower household income and more residential complaints per capita are correlated with higher average site EUI in NYC. Related suggestions on improving the energy performance in different regions are presented to the local government.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Jun & Cheng, Jack C.P., 2016. "Identifying the influential features on the regional energy use intensity of residential buildings based on Random Forests," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 193-201.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:183:y:2016:i:c:p:193-201
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.096
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261916311941
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.096?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Chuanguo & Zhao, Wei, 2014. "Panel estimation for income inequality and CO2 emissions: A regional analysis in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 382-392.
    2. Jain, Rishee K. & Smith, Kevin M. & Culligan, Patricia J. & Taylor, John E., 2014. "Forecasting energy consumption of multi-family residential buildings using support vector regression: Investigating the impact of temporal and spatial monitoring granularity on performance accuracy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 168-178.
    3. Patil, Meru A. & Tagade, Piyush & Hariharan, Krishnan S. & Kolake, Subramanya M. & Song, Taewon & Yeo, Taejung & Doo, Seokgwang, 2015. "A novel multistage Support Vector Machine based approach for Li ion battery remaining useful life estimation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 285-297.
    4. Druckman, A. & Jackson, T., 2008. "Household energy consumption in the UK: A highly geographically and socio-economically disaggregated model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 3167-3182, August.
    5. Carta, José A. & Cabrera, Pedro & Matías, José M. & Castellano, Fernando, 2015. "Comparison of feature selection methods using ANNs in MCP-wind speed methods. A case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 490-507.
    6. Baker, Keith J. & Rylatt, R. Mark, 2008. "Improving the prediction of UK domestic energy-demand using annual consumption-data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(6), pages 475-482, June.
    7. Chia, Yen Yee & Lee, Lam Hong & Shafiabady, Niusha & Isa, Dino, 2015. "A load predictive energy management system for supercapacitor-battery hybrid energy storage system in solar application using the Support Vector Machine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 588-602.
    8. Rizzo, Santi Agatino & Scelba, Giacomo, 2015. "ANN based MPPT method for rapidly variable shading conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 124-132.
    9. Hsu, David, 2015. "Identifying key variables and interactions in statistical models of building energy consumption using regularization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 144-155.
    10. Huebner, Gesche M. & Hamilton, Ian & Chalabi, Zaid & Shipworth, David & Oreszczyn, Tadj, 2015. "Explaining domestic energy consumption – The comparative contribution of building factors, socio-demographics, behaviours and attitudes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 589-600.
    11. Huang, Kuo-Tsang & Hwang, Ruey-Lung, 2016. "Future trends of residential building cooling energy and passive adaptation measures to counteract climate change: The case of Taiwan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1230-1240.
    12. Yeo, In-Ae & Yee, Jurng-Jae, 2014. "A proposal for a site location planning model of environmentally friendly urban energy supply plants using an environment and energy geographical information system (E-GIS) database (DB) and an artifi," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 99-117.
    13. Allinson, David & Irvine, Katherine N. & Edmondson, Jill L. & Tiwary, Abhishek & Hill, Graeme & Morris, Jonathan & Bell, Margaret & Davies, Zoe G. & Firth, Steven K. & Fisher, Jill & Gaston, Kevin J. , 2016. "Measurement and analysis of household carbon: The case of a UK city," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 871-881.
    14. Langevin, Jared & Gurian, Patrick L. & Wen, Jin, 2013. "Reducing energy consumption in low income public housing: Interviewing residents about energy behaviors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1358-1370.
    15. Liu, Hui & Tian, Hong-qi & Liang, Xi-feng & Li, Yan-fei, 2015. "Wind speed forecasting approach using secondary decomposition algorithm and Elman neural networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 183-194.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ma, Jun & Cheng, Jack C.P., 2016. "Estimation of the building energy use intensity in the urban scale by integrating GIS and big data technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 182-192.
    2. Copiello, Sergio & Grillenzoni, Carlo, 2017. "Is the cold the only reason why we heat our homes? Empirical evidence from spatial series data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 491-506.
    3. Wang, Endong, 2017. "Decomposing core energy factor structure of U.S. residential buildings through principal component analysis with variable clustering on high-dimensional mixed data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 858-873.
    4. Ahmed Gassar, Abdo Abdullah & Yun, Geun Young & Kim, Sumin, 2019. "Data-driven approach to prediction of residential energy consumption at urban scales in London," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Ascione, Fabrizio & De Masi, Rosa Francesca & de Rossi, Filippo & Ruggiero, Silvia & Vanoli, Giuseppe Peter, 2016. "Optimization of building envelope design for nZEBs in Mediterranean climate: Performance analysis of residential case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 938-957.
    6. McKenna, R. & Hofmann, L. & Merkel, E. & Fichtner, W. & Strachan, N., 2016. "Analysing socioeconomic diversity and scaling effects on residential electricity load profiles in the context of low carbon technology uptake," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 13-26.
    7. Petricli, Gulcan & Inkaya, Tulin & Gokay Emel, Gul, 2024. "Identifying green citizen typologies by mining household-level survey data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    8. Mohammadi, Neda & Taylor, John E., 2017. "Urban energy flux: Spatiotemporal fluctuations of building energy consumption and human mobility-driven prediction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 810-818.
    9. Yang, YouLong & Che, JinXing & Li, YanYing & Zhao, YanJun & Zhu, SuLing, 2016. "An incremental electric load forecasting model based on support vector regression," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 796-808.
    10. Vassileva, Iana & Campillo, Javier, 2014. "Increasing energy efficiency in low-income households through targeting awareness and behavioral change," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 59-63.
    11. Spandagos, Constantine & Yarime, Masaru & Baark, Erik & Ng, Tze Ling, 2020. "“Triple Target” policy framework to influence household energy behavior: Satisfy, strengthen, include," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Fateh Belaid & Christophe Rault, 2020. "Energy Expenditure in Egypt: Empirical Evidence Based on A Quantile Regression Approach," Working Papers 1446, Economic Research Forum, revised 20 Dec 2020.
    13. Namazkhan, Maliheh & Albers, Casper & Steg, Linda, 2020. "A decision tree method for explaining household gas consumption: The role of building characteristics, socio-demographic variables, psychological factors and household behaviour," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. Satre-Meloy, Aven, 2019. "Investigating structural and occupant drivers of annual residential electricity consumption using regularization in regression models," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 148-168.
    15. Jones, Rory V. & Fuertes, Alba & Lomas, Kevin J., 2015. "The socio-economic, dwelling and appliance related factors affecting electricity consumption in domestic buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 901-917.
    16. Laurie Buys & Desley Vine & Gerard Ledwich & John Bell & Kerrie Mengersen & Peter Morris & Jim Lewis, 2015. "A Framework for Understanding and Generating Integrated Solutions for Residential Peak Energy Demand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Yun, Geun Young & Steemers, Koen, 2011. "Behavioural, physical and socio-economic factors in household cooling energy consumption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 2191-2200, June.
    18. Chris Matthew & Catalina Spataru, 2023. "Time-Use Data Modelling of Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Demand for the Scottish Islands," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-25, June.
    19. Franz Fuerst & Dimitra Kavarnou & Ramandeep Singh & Hassan Adan, 2020. "Determinants of energy consumption and exposure to energy price risk: a UK study [Determinanten des Energieverbrauchs und Energiepreisrisiko: Eine Studie aus Großbritannien]," Zeitschrift für Immobilienökonomie (German Journal of Real Estate Research), Springer;Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V., vol. 6(1), pages 65-80, April.
    20. Kontokosta, Constantine E. & Tull, Christopher, 2017. "A data-driven predictive model of city-scale energy use in buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 303-317.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:183:y:2016:i:c:p:193-201. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.