Human behaviors that greatly influence building energy consumption are stimulated by the indoor environment. However, the relative importance of different environmental factors remains unclear. Previous literature mostly focused on single behavior. Holistic study of multiple energy-related behaviors is scarce. To fill the gap, this study investigated 22 government office buildings in Sichuan using questionnaires and field measurement. Environmental factors were ranked based on the two dimensions of “importance level’level” and “satisfaction level”. The key energy-related behaviors were identified by the comparative study between low- and high-energy-consuming buildings. Lastly, interactions between the building energy consumption, indoor environment quality, occupants’ satisfaction, and human behaviors were analyzed. Questionnaires reveal that most occupants consider indoor air quality as the prior “pain point” while feeling satisfied enough with the thermal environment. Although people attach less importance to the acoustic environment, they manifest evident discontent, suggesting that noise control is an urgent imperative. In contrast, occupants are relatively unconcerned with illuminance, which implies the feasibility of saving energy by reasonably reducing lighting requirements of some non-critical areas. The comparative study indicates that increased energy consumption was attributable to extra personal appliances, wasteful air conditioning habits, and the lack of ventilation in summer. The objective environment of high-energy-consuming buildings is slightly better. However, the difference in perceived satisfaction was not obvious. The findings of this study contribute to determining the most noteworthy environmental factor and the key energy-related behaviors and provide reference information for optimizing energy-saving strategies.

In China, a surging urbanization highlights the significance of building energy conservation. However, most building energy-saving schemes are designed solely in compliance with prescriptive codes and lack consideration of the local situations, resulting in an unsatisfactory effect and a waste of funds. Moreover, the actual effect of the design has yet to be thoroughly verified through field tests. In this study, a method of modifying conventional building energy-saving design based on research into the local climate and residents’ living habits was proposed, and residential buildings in Panzhihua, China were selected for trial. Further, the modification scheme was implemented in an actual project with its effect verified by field tests. Research grasps the precise climate features of Panzhihua, which was previously not provided, and concludes that Panzhihua is a hot summer and warm winter zone. Accordingly, the original internal insulation was canceled, and the shading performance of the windows was strengthened instead. Test results suggest that the consequent change of SET* does not exceed 0.5 °C, whereas variations in the energy consumption depend on the room orientation. For rooms receiving less solar radiation, the average energy consumption increased by approximately 20%, whereas for rooms with a severe western exposure, the average energy consumption decreased by approximately 11%. On the other hand, the cost savings of removing the insulation layer are estimated at 177 million RMB (1 USD ≈ 6.5 RMB) per year. In conclusion, the research-based modification method proposed in this study can be an effective tool for improving building energy efficiency adapted to local conditions.