Coupling Effect of Space-Arrangement and Wall Thermal Resistance on Indoor Thermal Environment of Passive Solar Single-Family Building in Tibet

Abstract

In areas where solar energy is abundant, such as the Tibetan plateau, passive solar buildings are attracting more and more attention and becoming a popular form of rural building. However, it is often difficult to achieve the satisfactory indoor thermal environment in a local rural passive solar single-family house. In order to improve the indoor thermal environment of passive solar buildings through building design, a systematic study of rural single-family buildings in Tibet was conducted. The basic parameters were investigated on the outdoor thermal environment, space-arrangement, envelope structure, and the indoor thermal environment. The building model considering space-arrangement modes was developed based on the survey data in multi-space passive solar buildings. The general physical and mathematical analysis models of multi-space passive solar buildings were established based on the heat transfer theory. Furthermore, the effects of space-arrangement and exterior wall thermal resistance on indoor air temperature were analyzed by numerical simulation. Results show that the indoor air temperature of the passive solar building is influenced by space-arrangement and wall thermal resistance together. When the space-arrangement of the building model was changed from "north-south through type" (mode a) to "through and separation combination" (mode b) and "north-south separation" (mode c), the indoor air temperature of the living room increased from 8.8 • C to 10.6 • C and 11.6 • C, with increases of 20.5% and 31.8%, respectively. In addition, equally increasing the thermal resistance of exterior walls in different orientations has different effects on the indoor air temperature. In the space-arrangement mode c, comparing with the temperature increment of the living room and bedroom caused by increasing thermal resistance of the south wall and north wall, the temperature increment of the living room caused by increasing thermal resistance of the east/west wall increased by 151.7% and 32.7%, and that of the bedroom increased by 609.1% and 239.1% respectively. This study can provide a reference for the optimal design of passive solar buildings in solar energy abundant areas.

Research on Energy-Saving Design of Rural Building Wall in Qinba Mountains Based on Uniform Radiation Field

“…us, it is an important measure to reduce building energy consumption and improve the indoor thermal environment by optimizing the thermal design and structural design of external walls. So far, many scholars have conducted research on the energysaving structure design of the wall [28][29][30][31] and indicated that indoor thermal environment quality can be effectively improved, and building energy consumption can be significantly reduced if external walls can be rationalized in design and construction.…”

“…Generally, the heat transfer coefficient of the wall with different orientations is considered to be the constant in building thermal design [31,32]. Nevertheless, for some areas with high solar radiation intensity, the solar radiation intensity varies greatly in different orientations [33,34].…”

“…In the thermal design of the wall, the same heat transfer coefficient is adopted for the external walls with different orientations, which greatly simplifies the thermal design process of the wall. However, the above design method neglects the influence of solar radiation difference in different orientations on wall heat transfer and also fails to consider the economics of the wall structure and the influence of the wall thermal performance on the indoor thermal comfort [31].…”

Zero Energy Buildings: A Reached Target or a Starting Point?

“…So, everything has been said on that topic? Not at all, and up-to-date research on all aspects related to the design of a zero-energy building is still being developed, as the articles reported [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] in this special issue testify.…”

“…In fact, the reader will find in the following papers, some works at the level of the component-such as the one of Memon et al [2] that studies the performance of a triple vacuum glazing, the one of Viljanen and Lu [6] on the moisture performance of highly insulated walls, the one of Dong et al [5] on the energy savings potential of cross-laminated timber constructions, and the study of passive solar systems by Cui et al [11]-and the others at the level of the building. Two works (Ruiz et al [3] and Ferrara et al [8]) treat the problem of the integration of renewable sources within a ZEB.…”