ABODES: An Agent-Based Framework for Evaluating Hybrid Work Policies Across Energy and Social Infrastructure

Office buildings are central to the sustainable energy transition, serving not only as workplaces but also as social hubs that foster knowledge exchange and innovation, while being major energy consumers. Hybrid work policies reshape office dynamics by changing who is present, when, and where interactions occur, strongly influencing both social interaction and energy use. Yet organizations lack tools to evaluate such impacts. We present ABODES (Agent-Based Office Dynamics and Energy Simulation), a coupled framework integrating agent-based simulation in Mesa with building energy modeling in EnergyPlus to evaluate hybrid work policies. Using ABODES, we analyze policy effects on occupancy, energy consumption, and social encounters, and quantify how occupant behavior and building operations influence outcome variability through variance-based sensitivity analysis. Within the simulated system, energy variability remains comparatively narrow (CV ≈ 5%) and is driven primarily by building physics parameters, although occupancy-aware space management increases sensitivity to behavioral factors. In contrast, encounters exhibit substantially greater variability (CV ≈ 40%) and are shaped by a smaller set of behavioral parameters. Floor consolidation strategies consistently increase encounters ( +20%) relative to non-consolidating approaches while maintaining energy savings. Within these simulated bounds, energy performance appears more controllable through spatial interventions, whereas encounters require coordinated organizational and spatial strategies.