Survey on the Indoor Thermal Environment and Passive Design of Rural Residential Houses in the HSCW Zone of China

Jingwen Rui, Huibo Zhang, Chengnan Shi, Deng Pan, Ya Chen and Chunyu Du
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Jingwen Rui: Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Huibo Zhang: Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Chengnan Shi: China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Deng Pan: Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Ya Chen: Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Chunyu Du: Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 22, 1-19

Abstract: Despite their high energy consumption, rural residential houses in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone still have a generally poor indoor thermal environment. The objective of this study was to understand the current status of the indoor thermal environment for rural residential houses in the HSCW zone and analyze its cause in order to develop some strategies for improvement through passive design of the building envelope. Face-to-face questionnaires and interviews, air-tightness testing, and temperature and humidity monitoring were conducted to understand the building envelope, energy consumption, and indoor thermal environment. Then, some passive design strategies were simulated, including the application of functional interior materials such as hygroscopic and phase change materials. An overall passive design for the building envelope can increase the room temperature by 3.6 °C, reduce the indoor relative humidity by 12% in the winter, and reduce the room temperature by 4.4 °C in the summer. In addition, the annual energy-saving rate can reach ~35%.

Keywords: rural residential houses; hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone; indoor thermal environment; passive design; phase change material; energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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