Influences of vernacular building spaces on human thermal comfort in China's arid climate areas

Abstract

Vernacular building spaces are key elements in adjusting thermal environment of buildings and thermal adaptation of residents. This paper analyzed the comprehensive influence of building spaces on the thermal environment, thermal adaptation behaviors and thermal responses of residents. Regarding the indoor and semi-open spaces of vernacular buildings in arid climate areas of Turpan, China, a one-year survey of building thermal environment and residents' thermal comfort was conducted. It was found that the thermal environment of indoor and semi-open spaces is substantially different, which provides comfortable living spaces for residents at different times. And the thermal adaptation behaviors were closely related to the building spaces. In addition, residents have different thermal comfort in indoor and semi-open spaces, including the neutral temperature, the acceptable temperature and preferred temperature. Among them, the neutral temperature differences in transitional seasons and summer were 1.1 °C and 0.9 °C, respectively. The differences in the value of 80% acceptable temperature were 2.2 °C and 2.7 °C, respectively; and the difference in preferred temperature was 1.6 °C in summer. Further analysis showed that the thermal environment of vernacular buildings in Turpan affected residents' thermal adaptation behavior and thermal comfort. The results indicated that the diverse spaces of vernacular buildings in Turpan can create different thermal environmental conditions for buildings and can stimulate thermal adaptation behaviors of residents, thereby improving residents’ thermal comfort and thermal adaptability.