Study on ecological values of Chinese traditional cave dwellings on Loess Plateau

Abstract

This paper mainly studies on ecological values of Chinese traditional cave dwellings on Loess Plateau. Firstly, it states the plain ecological theories of general Chinese traditional dwellings, which are also the implicit guidelines for building cave dwellings; then it discusses the specific ecological values of the cave dwellings, such as energy saving, land saving and water saving; besides, it points out the main problems of the traditional cave dwellings, which involve in issues like ‘lack of nature ventilation and daylight’, ‘too much moisture in the indoor environment’, etc.; furthermore, it proposes some measures to cope with those problems and to innovate and develop the traditional cave dwellings, so that they can achieve better indoor environmental conditions; in addition, it introduces two cases to show the practical values and immediate significance of innovated cave dwellings; finally, it draws the conclusion that the cave dwellings in the vast rural districts of Chinese Loess Plateau area still have significant ecological values.