Evaluation of Rural Dwellings’ Energy-Saving Retrofit with Adaptive Thermal Comfort Theory

Wen Cao,Lihua Chen,Lin Yang,Weidong Wu,Qinyi Zhang

doi:10.3390/su13105350

Abstract

The purpose of energy-saving retrofit of rural dwellings is to obtain a more comfortable indoor thermal environment with reasonable investment. The utilization rate of heating and air conditioning equipment for dwellings in poor rural areas is very low, and the buildings operate in natural ventilation mode all year round. Since the existing research on energy-saving retrofit is aimed at air-conditioned buildings, the research methods and results are not applicable to rural dwellings. This paper proposes a set of energy-saving retrofit evaluation methods suitable for natural ventilation buildings and applies it to the research on energy-saving retrofit of rural dwellings in cold climate regions of China. The specific process is as follows: First, this paper analyzed the current situation using field research and established a typical building model. Second, the DesignBuilder software was used to simulate all 725 schemes. Subsequently, the three main retrofit measures (replacing the external insulation windows, setting the external wall insulation layer and setting the roof insulation layer) were analyzed separately, and the optimal parameters of each retrofit measure were obtained. Finally, the entropy weight method was used to perform a multi-objective optimization analysis on all retrofit plans. The results show that 6+12A+6-mm insulating glass windows + 50-mm external wall insulation + 90-mm roof insulation is the optimal energy-saving reconstruction scheme. Compared with the benchmark building, the energy-saving rate of the optimal scheme is increased by 23.81%, and the annual adaptive thermal discomfort degree-hours are decreased by 13.17%.

Highlights

At present, the housing problem of farmers in China has been basically solved, but the indoor living environment varies greatly between urban and rural areas
Indoor thermal comfort and retrofit costs as optimization objectives, this study evaluates all 725 retrofit schemes and makes optimization decisions
The energy-saving retrofit of existing residential buildings requires a large amount of manpower and material resources, and the costs of comprehensive retrofits are relatively high

Summary

Introduction

The housing problem of farmers in China has been basically solved, but the indoor living environment varies greatly between urban and rural areas. How to allow farmers to live comfortably and environmentally friendly is an important issue for the harmonious development of the society and an important task for rural development at this stage [1]. China’s rural dwellings are basically built on their own homestead, and the design drawings are decided by the owners themselves. There is no supervision and review by professional organizations, and very few buildings are carried out with energy-saving design. In order to improve the indoor thermal environment and improve the quality of life of farmers, it is imperative to renovate residential buildings for energy conservation in rural areas [2]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion