Dynamic characteristics and adaptive design methods of enclosed courtyard: A case study of a single-story courtyard dwelling in China

Abstract

In this study, the dynamic performance of an enclosed courtyard with a covered roof in a cold IIA region of China was explored, and the microclimate regulation and energy performance of its component, the courtyard adjustable ventilated roof (CsAVR), were emphasized. As a theoretical basis for thermal context exploration, adaptive thermal comfort content was introduced, and mean thermal sensation vote ( MTS ) was adopted as one of the evaluation metrics. The thermal environment was monitored, and subsequently, energy models and numerical models were constructed in DesignBuilder and the finite element program COMSOL, respectively, which were both validated by the measured data. The comparative experiments were applied to the energy model to validate the capabilities of CsAVR on thermal regulation and energy savings, while a morphological optimization procedure based on derivative-free optimization algorithms was implemented in COMSOL to obtain the optimal set of design parameters for CsAVR satisfying thermal comfort. The comparative experiments revealed that the CsAVR reduced the operative temperature in the courtyard and adjacent space by 3.9 °C and 1.6 °C, respectively, during the warm period; approximately 47.4% (courtyard) and 28.6% (adjacent space) of the occupied hours were extended to the comfort range during the cooling season; and approximately 8.2% of the energy was saved throughout the year. With the input of meteorological parameters, dwelling geometry parameters, and thermal adaptation objective functions, an optimization program with an embedded COBYLA algorithm was created to rapidly obtain a combination of morphological control parameters that approximates optimal thermal comfort. • Compare the performance of covered and uncovered courtyards. • The thermal and microclimatic functions of the courtyard are both considered. • A thermal intervention design that responds to the thermal comfort and behavior of occupants. • The MTS -restricted morphological optimization program is available.