Rural Buildings Research Articles

The Spatial Patterns and Building Policies of Rural Settlements in the Context of Demolition: The Case of Xian’an, China

In China, the “land-restructuring” policy provides balanced land for urban settlements that is strictly limited in expansion. Therefore, reassessing and adjusting the layout of rural settlements is of great practical significance for promoting rural revitalization. In this paper, taking Xian’an district in Hubei Province as an example, we use the weighted rank-sum ratio comprehensive evaluation method and spatial association analysis method to analyze the development level and spatial pattern of settlements. The results show that: (1) The development level of settlements in Xian’an shows obvious spatial differences, with a spatial pattern of ‘high in the core–low in the periphery’ and ‘high in the northwest–low in the southeast’, which is the result of the combined effect of natural geographical conditions and socioeconomic conditions; (2) The comprehensive development level of settlements, evaluated based on four major indicators—population size, resource endowment, spatial characteristics, and material construction—reveals the presence of cluster effects, distance decay effects, administrative hierarchy effects, and “long board” effects; (3) Within village communities, settlements with significantly high levels and settlements with significantly low levels have a similar geographic distribution and mosaic spatial patterns. Lastly, based on the overall development level and spatial association patterns of settlements, this article presents possible options for governmental settlement governance from the standpoint of rural building management.

Solar chimney design in rural areas of Anhui, China: CFD simulation, energy and carbon footprint assessment

China is currently undergoing a large-scale renovation of rural buildings. The solar chimney, a passive solar system, emerges as a cost-effective and easily implementable solution, particularly suitable for rural regions. This study designs a solar chimney in the Hui architectural style for renovating residential buildings in rural areas of Anhui province. A selected pilot building serves as the testbed for the solar chimney implementation, with plans to extend the design to other local renovation projects. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are employed to compare various solar chimney configurations and identify the optimal design for the case study. Results from the CFD simulations highlight the optimal configurations for the pilot building's solar chimney design. Additionally, a comparative analysis of heating and cooling energy consumption is conducted between buildings with and without solar chimneys to assess the energy-saving potential. Furthermore, a life cycle assessment evaluates the environmental impacts of solar chimney construction and the environmental benefits during operation. It is revealed that the solar chimney can reduce building energy consumption. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with solar chimney construction can be offset within one year. The study presents an effect diagram illustrating the renovated building with a solar chimney. This study provides valuable insights into the application of solar chimneys in developing rural areas to enhance indoor comfort and promote energy savings. Additionally, it offers guidance for exploring optimal solar chimney configurations for specific geographical regions areas.

Thermal Performance Optimization of Building Envelopes in a Low-Cost and Energy-Saving Rural Dwelling in Severe Cold Region—Taking Central Area of Liaoning as an Example

The thermal performance of rural building envelopes is mostly non-standardized in Northern China, resulting in significant heat loss. In this study, we take, as an example, the central area of Liaoning province, with the objective of proposing some low-cost and energy-efficient solutions. Through our investigations, we found that heating energy consumption was reduced by 20% and construction costs increased by less than CNY 8000 (USD 1108), which can be accepted by rural residents. In order to achieve this target, the NSGA-II algorithm integrated with Rhino + Grasshopper and EnergyPlus simulation kernel was used to establish a thermal performance optimization model for the heat transfer of rural building envelopes in this severe cold region. Among the above-calculated Pareto optimal solutions, the recommended thickness of insulation layers for room floors, roofs, and external walls was about 70 mm, 50 mm, and 40 mm, respectively. Furthermore, we tried to reduce the window-to-wall ratio as much as possible. Finally, based on both the lower building renovation cost and energy-saving rate, three technical solutions from which rural residents could select, according to their specific needs, are put forward.

Construction and Case Analysis of a Comprehensive Evaluation System for Rural Building Energy Consumption from an Energy–Building–Behavior Composite Perspective

A comprehensive evaluation system for rural building energy consumption from an innovative composite perspective was established, suitable for southwest of China. The index system was established by brainstorming and the Delphi method, the weights of the comprehensive evaluation model were calculated by the analytic network process (ANP) method, and the scoring criteria of all evaluation indexes were levelled based on fuzzy evaluation theory. The system model was verified by case analysis, in the countryside around Chengdu Second Circle. Taking into account the highest weight, lowest comprehensive score, and widest range of comprehensive scores, three key factors were identified, namely percentage of clean energy use, thermal performance of exterior walls, and implementation rate of energy-saving measures. The distribution of comprehensive indicators and evaluation factors had certain spatial distribution characteristics, and the overall spatial distribution was characteristically high in the southeast and low in the northwest. Finally, based on key factors and regional distribution characteristics, energy-saving measures are proposed from three aspects: increasing sunrooms, adding wall insulation layers, and standardizing air conditioning temperature settings.

Clustering Method Comparison for Rural Occupant’s Behavior Based on Building Time-Series Energy Data

The purpose of this research is to compare clustering methods and pick up the optimal clustered approach for rural building energy consumption data. Research undertaken so far has mainly focused on solving specific issues when employing the clustered method. This paper concerns Yushan island resident’s time-series electricity usage data as a database for analysis. Fourteen algorithms in five categories were used for cluster analysis of the basic data sets. The result shows that Km_Euclidean and Km_shape present better clustering effects and fitting performance on continuous data than other algorithms, with a high accuracy rate of 67.05% and 65.09%. Km_DTW is applicable to intermittent curves instead of continuous data with a low precision rate of 35.29% for line curves. The final conclusion indicates that the K-means algorithm with Euclidean distance calculation and the k-shape algorithm are the two best clustering algorithms for building time-series energy curves. The deep learning algorithm can not cluster time-series-building electricity usage data under default parameters in high precision.

Experimental investigation on dynamic thermal storage and extraction performance of seasonal thermal storage

The initial investment for a buried pipe system using soil as a seasonal thermal storage medium is costly and not suitable for small rural buildings. To promote the cost-effective heating in rural areas, this study proposes a novel seasonal thermal storage system utilizing water and soil as thermal storage medium with copper rods to enhance thermal transfer between water tank and the surrounding soil. An experimental platform was established to discuss the temperature variation characteristics and investigate the thermal performance under different operating modes and experimental parameters. The results show that the temperature of the soil without copper rods is linearly related to the depth, while the highest temperature at the end of the copper rods occurs at the middle depth. The soil with short copper rods exhibits the most rapid thermal storage response and a relatively shorter thermal extraction response time. Intermittent operation can significantly enhance the thermal extraction rate and outlet temperature of the thermal storage unit, whereas the energy storage efficiency decreases with the extension of the downtime. The soil contribution rate of the thermal storage unit is influenced by the operational duration, initial temperature of the water tank and outdoor ambient temperature.

Psychological Motivation Analysis of Farmers' Collective Energy-saving Behavior and Influence of Intervention Effect

The poor thermal performance of rural buildings in northern China and the serious pollution caused by loose coal combustion are practical problems that need to be solved urgently. In order to solve the two problems, this paper analyzed the current situation of the envelope structure of rural houses in the north of our country and the commonly used heating forms of farmers. It was found that the envelope structure of most rural houses did not take heat preservation measures and needed to be transformed to save energy. The commonly used heating systems for farmers are coal furnaces, hanging kang, earth heating, etc., and the wealthier rural areas use biogas or straw gasification for central heating, but there are still various problems to be improved in these systems. In order to improve the thermal performance of the farmers' building structure, the thermal performance measurement and energy-saving transformation of the enclosure structure of a typical farmer in Xiaoyi, Shanxi Province were carried out. Before the energy-saving transformation, Energy Plus software simulation analysis shows that the typical farmer can save 60% of the heating energy consumption after the energy-saving transformation. Before and after the energy-saving transformation, the actual measurement results show that the heat transfer coefficient of the wall, window and roof decreased by 72.7%, 61.59% and 64.99% respectively from 2.3 times, 1.43 times and 2.11 times the national requirement limit. The performance of the envelope structure after the energy-saving transformation can meet the national requirements. The actual statistics show that the biomass fuel consumption per unit temperature difference before and after the transformation is saved by 66.74%, which indicates that the energy-saving transformation has achieved good results, and shows the accuracy of the Energy Plus model. The psychological intervention of energy-saving transformation proposed in this study helps to improve people's awareness of energy-saving, reduces anxiety and fear, and has a very good effect on the psychological intervention effect.

Mapping every adult baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) across the Sahel and relationships to rural livelihoods.

The baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) is an integral part of rural livelihoods throughout the African continent. However, the combined effects of climate change and increasing global demand for baobab products are currently exerting pressure on the sustainable utilization of these resources. Here we use sub-metre-resolution satellite imagery to identify the presence of nearly 2.8 million (underestimation bias 27.1%) baobab trees in the Sahel, a dryland region of 2.4 million km2. This achievement is considered an essential step towards an improved management and monitoring system of valuable woody species. Using Senegal as a case country, we find that 94% of rural buildings have at least one baobab tree in their immediate surroundings and that the abundance of baobabs is associated with a higher likelihood of people consuming a highly nutritious food group: dark green leafy vegetables. The generated database showcases the feasibility of mapping the location of single tree species at a sub-continental scale, providing vital information in times when deforestation and climate change cause the extinction of numerous tree species.

Demand response strategies for air-conditioning systems based on direct load control: Considering envelope structures

In recent years, the surge in rural air-conditioning (AC) electricity consumption has led to an overall increase in peak loads in both winter and summer, presenting a major challenge to the reliability and stability of low-voltage distribution networks. Demand response (DR) strategy not only relieves the peak load, but also reduces the energy consumption and achieves the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction. Among the many DR strategies, direct load control (DLC) stands out as an effective way to quickly reduce building AC loads. Meanwhile, the building envelope is also one of the important factors affecting the AC load. A typical rural house in the Xi’an area of Shaanxi Province was used as a case study. A ground source heat pump system was developed, installed and used as an experimental platform in order to aid the study. Therefore, in this study, the combination of external envelope and DLC strategies was investigated to establish a simulation model of energy consumption in rural building complexes. Two DLC load control strategies were implemented under different external envelope conditions for annual AC energy simulation. The results show that the thickness of the external insulation layer has the greatest impact on the AC load of the building compared to the window-wall ratio and orientation. With a thickness of 0 mm–75 mm insulation, the DCCM strategy can effectively reduce AC energy consumption by 16%–18%; With a thickness of 0 mm–75 mm insulation, the TSCM strategy can effectively reduce AC energy consumption by 5%–8%.

Seismic Performance of a Single-Story Timber-Framed Masonry Structure Strengthened with Fiber-Reinforced Cement Mortar.

Timber-framed masonry structures are widely used around the world, and their seismic performance is generally poor. Most of them have not been seismically strengthened. In areas with high seismic fortification intensity, there are great potential safety hazards. And it is urgent to carry out effective seismic reinforcement. However, due to the complicated construction process of the existing reinforcement technology, the poor durability of the reinforcement materials, and the significant disturbance to the life of the original residents, an efficient single-story timber-framed masonry structure reinforcement technology suitable for comprehensive promotion and application has not been explored. In this paper, a fiber-reinforced cement mortar (FRCM) material was proposed. A 1/2 scale model of a single-story timber-framed masonry structure was taken as the research object. The method of strengthening a single-story timber-framed masonry structure with FRCM layer was adopted. And the shaking table test of the model before and after reinforcement was carried out in turn. The dynamic characteristics, failure modes, acceleration response and displacement response of the FRCM layer-strengthened structure were analyzed through comparisons of the two cases. The experimental results showed that the FRCM layer significantly improved the seismic performance of the seismic-damaged single-story timber-framed masonry structures. The X- and Y-direction natural frequencies of the model structure were increased by 31.30% and 30.22%, respectively, after the structure was strengthened with FRCM. During a rare eight-degree earthquake, the inter-story displacement angles in the X- and Y-direction of the unreinforced model reached 1/98 and 1/577, respectively, and the structure was destroyed, while the inter-story displacement angle of the FRCM-reinforced model was only 1/2 of that the unreinforced model. During a rare nine-degree earthquake, the X-direction inter-story displacement angle of the model strengthened with FRCM reached 1/78 and the Y-direction inter-story displacement angle reached 1/178. At this time, the reinforced model structure was destroyed, but there was no collapse of the structural components, which met the seismic design objectives of "operational under the design minor seismic intensity, repairable damage under the design seismic precautionary intensity, and collapse prevention under the design rare seismic intensity", which proved that the FRCM layer was an effective and feasible way to strengthen the existing single-story wood-masonry rural building.

Thermal performance of solar ground source heat pump system for rural buildings in Chinese cold zone

In response to China's national policy of “achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060″, and to promote the heating system of rural buildings in China's severe cold zone. Two heating schemes of the GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pump) system and the SGSHP (Solar Ground Source Heat Pump) system are designed and simulated for a single rural residential building in Harbin city. The results present that the outlet temperature of buried pipe in SGSHP system is 13.86 % higher than that in GSHP system, and coefficient of performance (COP) correspondingly increases 9.2 %. There is a better comprehensive performance for the SGSHP system in cold climates. The standard coal consumption of SGSHP system is about 72.35 % less than that of biomass boiler system, showing a greater energy efficiency. Compared to the local conventional biomass boiler system, the dynamic cost payback period of the SGSHP system amounts to 11 years, while yielding a net present value (NPV) of 10,800 CNY throughout the project's life cycle. The emissions of CO2, SO2, and dust are reduced by 2617.13 kg, 19.38 kg, and 14.535 kg respectively. The results indicate a great overall performance of the SGSHP system for residential heating in the cold climate zone. This research offers an energy efficient and eco-friendly alternative for the space heating of Chinese rural buildings in cold climates.

Technology and figuration in the central and eastern Italian Alps

The projects featured in this review were selected from the Central and Eastern Italian Alps. Starting with the redevelopment of a rural building in the Aurina Valley, moving on to a trade fair complex in the Belluno area characterized by a significant wooden reticular structure, then the “House of the Mountains” in South Tyrol, and finally a barn designed in the province of Sondrio. The exceptional construction quality of these projects, which are very diverse from one another, indicates a profound knowledge of the material and its design potential.

Analysis of fire protection design strategies for commercial renovation of villagers’ self-built houses

Abstract The current situation of self-built houses by villagers is prevalent in rural areas, where many villagers construct their own residential dwellings based on their personal needs and economic circumstances. These self-built houses are typically constructed using basic materials and traditional building techniques, often without adherence to strict building regulations and standards. As a result of the lack of professional knowledge and technical guidance, the structural integrity and safety of these houses are often compromised. In addition, the lack of firefighting facilities and fire prevention measures further increase the risk of fire accidents. This situation contributes to a higher incidence of fires in rural areas, posing a significant threat to the lives and assets of villagers. Therefore, it becomes imperative to improve the current state of self-built houses by villagers. Strengthening fire safety awareness and implementing robust fire prevention measures are vital in this regard. This paper aims to summarize the challenges involved in fire protection design for renovating rural buildings. Additionally, it proposes fire protection design principles specifically for the commercial transformation of self-built houses by villagers. By analyzing real-world engineering cases, this study puts forth specific fire protection measures concerning fire rescue, fire control zones (groups), evacuation design, and fire systems. To ensure the fire safety of these buildings, special fire protection design methods are employed. The effectiveness of the proposed fire protection measures are validated through the use of FDS fire and smoke numerical simulation analysis software and Pathfinder evacuation simulation software, ensuring the fire safety of the buildings. The results show that the available safe evacuation time that can be provided by this scenario is 1200 s as calculated by the FDS simulation, and the necessary safe evacuation time is less than the available safe evacuation time in case of a fire on the first floor of this building, and the safe evacuation of the people can be guaranteed. This study can provide a valuable resource for architects, engineers, and decision makers to implement effective fire protection measures during commercial remodeling of village-owned houses.

Space–Time Patterns of Nest Site and Nesting Area Selection by the Italian Population of European Rollers: A 3-Year Study of a Farmland Bird Species

The European Roller Coracias garrulus has suffered greatly from breeding habitat loss due to the renovation of old farmhouses and rural buildings and changing agricultural practices that took place extensively across Europe in the last decades. As a consequence, this species experienced a significant decline, and local extinctions of breeding populations were recorded in several European countries. We investigated nest sites and nesting area selection by the Italian Roller population during the breeding period (May–August) between 2016 and 2018. We collected 711 points from field surveys and used four types of point pattern analysis to detect space-time patterns of nest site and nesting area selection. We found that: (a) the spatial distribution of selected (i.e., occupied) nest sites was significantly nonrandom (p < 0.01) for all years and months; (b) only 2.6% of the selected nest sites was located within parks or reserves; (c) there were significant (p < 0.01) latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal shifts of selected nest sites between May and August; (d) the geographical barycentres of selected nest sites shifted northward by about 80 km per month from May (southernmost barycentre) to August (northernmost barycentre); (e) four main nesting areas (7886 km2 in total) occurred in central and southern Italy, whose utilization by the European Rollers differed between months but not between years; (f) the detected nesting areas corresponded mainly to non-irrigated arable lands (41.22% of their extent) and natural grasslands (12.80%). Our results are useful to support conservation strategies for the breeding sites of this farmland species, which is not a regular visitor to protected areas in Italy.

Georesources in Cultural Heritage: the Mg/Ca Ratio in Lime as a Marker of Variations in the Exploitation of Lime Stones in the Vercelli Area (Piemonte, Italy) over the Centuries

Archaeological investigations in the rural settlements of the Po Valley in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, particularly in the Monferrato area, have revealed a wide range of structures dating from the Roman to the Early Medieval periods. This rural architecture is of great heritage value, as it provides insights into the historical development of Piedmont.This paper focuses on the analysis of lime, one of the oldest and most important building materials, used as binder of bedding mortars of three archaeological rural buildings sites dating from the Early Roman imperial Period to the Late Antique phases of medieval fortified centers of Piedmont region.A low-cost and efficient diagnostic geochemical-based method based on the characterization of two oxides present in the lime of mortars and in carbonate rocks of the area (MgO and CaO) is presented. Exploited limestone quarries exploited often have a fairly constant chemical composition and therefore a typical geological Mg/Ca ratio. The variation in this ratio is useful for the relative dating of building walls and for identifying of geological formations and quarries possibly used during the different architectural phases. This paper focuses on this second objective: the study of potential supply areas across the ages related to the ancient communication routes.

Computer Simulation of Rural Landscape Design Based on Remote Sensing Image Technology

Introduction: The field of rural landscape design deals with the design and recovery of rural areas and landscape in a way that it can support natural biodiversity in addition to human needs in sustainable ways as well as maintaining its cultural character. It employs the use of plants, landforms and some water without interference with the environment in order to come up with useful and beautiful spaces. Recognizing the importance of preserving the environment while at the same time investing in developmental projects, it is centralized and focuses on the entire eco-system with the aim of enhancing the lives of the people. Aim: This study aims to develop theoretical aspect of an innovative computer simulation model for designing rural landscapes by applying the technology of remote sensing image. Research methodology: We suggest a new Starling Murmuration search-driven Adaptive YOLOv7 algorithm to identify and categorize several rural buildings and setting types. For the image data, we collected abundant data from several environments using UAV devices to train our proposed model. It is not surprising that our proposed model combined the use of three dimensional (3D) geographic information system (GIS) virtual imaging design model in the simulation of the rural landscape designs. Our recommended model is then extended using SM optimization to improve object detection with YOLOv7. By repeated adjustments of the network parameters in a somewhat similar fashion like flocking, we managed to enhance both accuracy and efficiency. This framework exploits crowdsourcing for delimiting rural buildings and landscapes with high-fidelity. Findings and Conclusion: We implemented our recommended model in Python software. During the phase of evaluation, we evaluate the efficacy of our recommended SM-AYOLOv7 model across a variety of parameters such as precision (91.72%), recall (92.34%), Intersection over Union (IoU) (90.23%), and f1 score (93.64%). Our experimental results precisely indicate that our approach outperforms traditional approaches. We demonstrate significant increases in accuracy and adaptability, especially when adjusting to dynamic configurations.

Field Investigation on Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Rural Dwellings: A Case Study in Linyi (China) during Summer

A large number of people in China still live in rural villages. The indoor environment of these rural dwellings directly affects the quality of life of the occupants. Nevertheless, constrained by the quality of dwelling construction, rural buildings have poorer indoor environments and, at the same time, have a higher operating energy consumption. However, inadequate attention has been given to the summer thermal environment in cold regions. This work has been carried out around the thermal environment of rural residences in cold regions during summer. Field measurements, questionnaires, and data analysis were used in this study. We recorded the indoor and outdoor thermal environment parameters on a typical summer day in the Linyi rural area. Moreover, the subjective sensations and thermal adaptive behaviors of the participants were recorded in detail with a questionnaire. Linear regression showed that the neutral temperature for residents in summer was 27.52 °C, with acceptable temperatures ranging from 25.14 °C to 29.9 °C. Age and gender differences were found to affect the occupants’ sensation of thermal comfort and humidity, as well as their thermal adaptive behavior. In addition, a thermal adaptive model has been constructed in the study, which will further enrich the thermal adaptive investigation and provide a scientifically sound reference for the renovation and development of the local rural areas.

Rural Buildings for Sustainable Development: A Real Estate Market Analysis in Southern Italy

The profound transformations of traditional rural landscapes have heightened attention towards the recovery and valorisation of their buildings, often abandoned, to accommodate new landscape usage needs. This aligns with the principles of sustainable landscape management. However, knowledge of the rural real estate market remains largely unexplored. This research aims to define and examine the key features influencing the purchase of rural buildings, for shedding light on their market. The objective is to provide useful new insight to the property appraisers and real estate agents involved in the sale of traditional rural buildings, even if in conditions of degradation or abandonment and in traditional landscape contexts. Furthermore, these results could serve as a valuable resource for policymakers, enabling them to indirectly evaluate the impacts of urban and landscape policies on buyers’ preferences regarding key features of rural properties. The research focused on the ‘trulli’, traditional buildings located in the Valle d’Itria (Puglia, Southern Italy). First, a detailed market analysis was carried out with the support of local real estate experts, to survey the transactions of trulli and identify the features influencing their purchase. Second, the obtained dataset was analysed through network analysis, which enabled us to explore the role and importance assigned by buyers to the identified features. The results highlighted that the quality of the landscape where trulli are located changed the buyers’ viewpoint on the purchase features. In greater detail, price, area, potable water accessibility and level of maintenance of trulli were the most crucial features, particularly in high and medium landscape value zones, compatible with touristic and recreational activities. On the other hand, the annex agricultural surface covered a central function in low landscape value zone for possible agricultural uses.

A Roof over Your Head Roofing of Rural Dwellings and Outbuildings in the Karst (Mid-18th Century)

The contribution addresses the long-standing question of the roof covering materials for rural buildings in the Karst region and the chronology of the prevalence and replacement of straw, slates, and bent tiles from the 16th to the 19th century. The article first outlines the interpretative and chronological uncertainty of the existing literature. Next, it presents the early modern written testimonies and iconography of towns and villages in the Slovenian Littoral, demonstrating their partial discrepancy with the existing interpretations and the ambiguity of the relevant depictions. The central part of the article analyses the original archival data from real estate transactions between peasants, which contain information on the type and value of roof coverings on 27 residential and 13 outbuildings in 15 localities in the Karst region in the middle of the 18th century. Most of these houses were covered with slates, while most outbuildings were thatched, except for the Goriška-Vipava area, where bent tiles prevailed. These results provide a reliable timeline foundation for further research.

A novel heating strategy and its optimization of solar–air source heat pump heating system for rural buildings in northwest China

In the rural areas of Northwest China, the utilization of clean and renewable energy is deemed a crucial measure for reducing building energy consumption and environmental pollutant emissions. This paper focuses on constructing a simulation platform for a solar-assisted air source heat pump heating system. A rural residential building in Yongshou County, Shaanxi Province, serves as an illustrative example. A novel flexible temperature control method with a feedback controller in sub-area and period is proposed in this paper, alongside the selection of three distinct objective functions aimed at optimizing the heating system. The simulation results indicate an average temperature of 17.0 °C throughout the heating cycle, with a peak temperature of 18.7 °C. Moreover, the solar fraction is measured at 25.11%, underscoring the significance of collector area and heat storage tank volume as primary factors in system design. The results also demonstrate that across various optimization objectives, the life cycle cost optimization scheme yields greater economic benefits, while the target building unit heating cost optimization scheme boasts the shortest static payback period and lowest unit heating cost. Conversely, the solar fraction optimization scheme stands out for its superior environmental benefits. These findings offer valuable insights for the design of heating systems tailored to diverse objectives.