The Relationship between Occupants' Movement and Building Morphology before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, engineering control emerged as an efficient method for isolating people from hazards through physical or mechanical means. To enhance engineering control, understanding the relationship between occupants' movement and building morphology before and during the pandemic is crucial. Although previous research has explored the impact of building elements on occupants' route choices and indoor movements in emergencies, everyday scenarios remain understudied. This study addresses this gap by analyzing a Wi-Fi dataset to track occupants' movements and a building dataset to obtain morphological features of selected academic buildings. Using the K-means clustering method, the relationship between 12 building features and occupancy was examined. Trajectory data at different pandemic stages was visualized to emphasize changes in occupants' movements following engineering control measures. The results reveal that building features, such as floor area, corridor area, and room number, significantly influence occupants' indoor movement.