Integrating Space Syntax and User Movement Observation to Identify Potential Human Activity Energy Harvesting Zones in Campus Buildings
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Energy consumption in campus buildings continues to increase with the intensity of building use and user activities, while research on human activity-based energy harvesting remains predominantly focused on energy conversion technologies, with limited attention to the relationship between spatial configuration and the distribution and concentration of user movement. To address this gap, this study integrated Space Syntax analysis and field observation to identify candidate circulation zones for future human activity-based energy harvesting applications.in the HC-A Building of Soegijapranata Catholic University Semarang. The spatial configuration analysis was carried out using DepthmapX through Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA), with Connectivity and Visual Integration analysed independently. Connectivity was used to determine preliminary candidate circulation areas based on the internal spatial configuration, while field observation was used to identify the distribution of actual user movement, particularly at main access points influenced by external movement sources. The Connectivity-based analysis identified 631 m² (67.85%) of the total analysed circulation area as preliminary candidate areas. Afterintegration with field observations, the final candidate area increased to 661 m² (71.08%), representing an additional30 m² or 3.23 percentage points primarily around the main access zones, with relatively high observed movement that was observed but was not fully captured by the preliminary Connectivity-based classification. The findings indicate that the distribution of actual user movement is associated not only with the internal spatial configuration but also with building access functions and their connections to external movement sources. Thus, integrating spatial configuration analysis with field observation provides a spatial basis for identifying candidate circulation zones for subsequent technical assessment of energy output, device performance, and installation feasibility of human activity-based energy harvesting applications.
Source: Dimensi
Author: Zulkarnain Marzuki
Institution: Universitas Krisnadwipayana
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225242699