Optimization of Plane and Space of New Dwellings in Southern Anhui Province Based on Indoor Thermal Environment

Abstract

Considering the problems of poor plane and space design, poor indoor thermal environment, and high energy consumption of dwellings in southern Anhui province, and combining with the requirements of modern residential environment, the characteristics and changing laws of the plane and space organization of Huizhou traditional dwellings from the traditional period to the New Rural period and the inheritance requirements of Huizhou traditional dwellings, seven types of new dwellings in southern Anhui province were designed based on the survey and mapping of Huizhou traditional dwellings. DesignBuilder software is used for the new dwelling plan to simulate and optimize the indoor thermal environment as well as energy consumption of seven building plans. The results show that: High indoor thermal comfort and low energy consumption are observed in a large aspect ratio and fully enclosed room, and better indoor thermal comfort is observed in summer than in winter in rooms with courtyards, and better indoor thermal comfort and low energy consumption is observed when the rooms are located in the northeast, southwest, and south directions. The results have guiding significance for the construction of new dwellings that are comfortable and energy-saving, and distinctive in southern Anhui province.

1. Introduction

Under the promotion of the healthy China strategy and the rural revitalization strategy, creating an energy-saving and comfortable residential environment has become the focus of building a new rural area. The exploration of the design rules of traditional residential plane and space is conducive to the inheritance of architecture culture and the utilization of climate-adaptive passive technology of traditional dwellings, which provides creative ideas for the design of new dwellings.

At present, a large number of research results have been obtained for the study of the plane and space form of traditional dwellings, which provide designers with rules and experiences for the design of dwellings: Tabadkani et al. [1] developed a Deep Learning model to study the implications of courtyard design variables such as building location, courtyard dimensions, and building parameters on thermal comfort, building energy performance, and utility cost. Jang et al. [2] examined how those characteristics could be reflected in urban plans and designs by investigating and analyzing the typical characteristics such as courtyard type, layout type and access type of courtyard apartments in South Korea from the 1960s to 1970s. Zune M et al. [3] found that Myanmar’s vernacular buildings with multistage roofs offer could improve indoor comfort in tropical weather. Ding et al. [4] studied the interaction between space and society and between culture and behavior by comparative analysis of habitation behavioral patterns in spatial configuration of traditional houses in Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces of China. As the crystallization of the wisdom of ancient Huizhou people, Huizhou traditional dwellings have the strengths in architectural site selection, plane and space structure, decoration, and other aspects that can be borrowed from the new dwellings in southern Anhui province. However, for Huizhou traditional dwellings with higher humidity than modern dwellings [5], poor indoor thermal environment in winter [6], and high energy consumption, the optimized design of indoor thermal environment and energy consumption of dwellings at the present stage is often aimed at the envelope structure, energy use technology, etc.: Chi et al. [7] studied the indoor daylight factor, air velocity and air temperature with different building orientations and Window-to-Wall Ratio combination for traditional dwellings in Sizhai village to find the optimal interval of WWR for dwellings. Zhao et al. [8] studied the energy-saving potential of traditional courtyard house in Chinese Hot-Summer-Cold-Winter zone by deeply retrofitting. Fabrizio et al. [9] studied the effect of window glazing on the energy and lighting performance of buildings through the improvement of Mediterranean climate zone in two cities by improving the building envelope to minimize energy demand and thermal discomfort time. Hester J et al. [10] studied the effect of building geometry, orientation, window area, window type, and window insulation class on energy for quantitative and sensitivity analysis to guide the early design of residential buildings. However, the dwellings in southern Anhui province have changed dramatically in the design of building plane and space from the traditional period to the New Rural period with the change of times and people’s needs which they all ignored. Therefore, in order to explore the significance of the change on the living environment, it is necessary to study the influence of plane and space factors on indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption as indicators. Thus, the construction experience of plane and space of Huizhou traditional building is fully explored to meet the modern living needs and explore the Anhui model of beautiful countryside construction.

The study abstractly designed seven plans of new dwellings in southern Anhui province with different plane and space layouts by investigating the characteristics and changing laws of the plane and space organization of Huizhou traditional dwellings from the traditional period to the New Rural period, and the indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption of building operation were simulated and analyzed by using DesignBuilder software, and the influence of plane and space factors on thermal environment and energy consumption was finally derived.

2. Materials and Methods

The methodological approach of this work is mainly the following three stages: (1) Field research on the plane and space characteristics of Huizhou traditional dwellings, (2) the design of plane and space plan, which is to inherit and innovate Huizhou traditional dwellings, (3) simulation of indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption for each plan by using DesignBuilder software.

2.1. Field Research

This study provides a basis for the design of the preliminary houses by conducting field research of 25 dwellings in the traditional period, 2 dwellings in the Republican period, 6 dwellings in the New Huizhou period, and the literature research of 109 dwellings in the New Rural period, we analyze the changing patterns of the plane and space factors of the dwellings of southern Anhui province in four periods from traditional to Republican to New Huizhou and then to New Rural.

After a long period of temporal and spatial changes in southern Anhui province, the plane and space of dwellings have undergone great changes. In the plane, the richness of shapes has increased, from rectangular, “L” type, “回” type and “凹” type in the traditional period to dozens of shapes in the New Rural period. The width and depth of the plane fluctuate, from large width, and small depth in the traditional period to small width and large depth in the New Rural period. The overall standard floor plane area of the building does not change much, and the standard floor area of a single-family building decreases more. The room area of the hall increases steeply in the New Huizhou period, the compartment does not change much, and the living room shows the development trend from a single large area to multiple small areas. From the traditional period to the New Rural period, the number of courtyards decreased significantly, from the traditional period of “一” type, “回” type, “凹” type and multiple courtyard combination to the Republican period of the “一” type courtyard, and then the “凹” type courtyard in the New Huizhou period and the New Rural period. In the space, the type of courtyard decreases, and the transition space under the corridor and eaves basically disappears. The room enclosure decreases or even disappears, showing the gradual closure of the room enclosure.

2.1.1. Plane Form

Huizhou traditional dwellings are symmetrical on the central axis, with the hall in the middle and the rooms on the left and right, the courtyard in front of the hall and the stairs at the back or on the left or right. There are many different types of courtyard space forms, either single or multiple. Single courtyard is divided into “一” type, “凹” type, and “回” type, etc. Multiple courtyard are a free combination of different courtyard forms, such as left and right in series, front and back in parallel, or enclosed into a courtyard, which is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.

2.1.2. Space Form

(1)

Courtyard

The courtyard will change in different space form and combinations, mainly including “four-sided penetration”, “one-sided enclosure”, and “three-sided enclosure”. Figure 3a shows the space of “four-sided penetration”, which is mainly found in the “回” type courtyard. Figure 3b shows the space of “one-sided enclosed”, which is mainly found in the “凹” type courtyard. Figure 3c shows the space of “three-sided enclosed”, which is mainly found in the “一” type courtyard.

(2)

Hall space

Figure 4 shows the “three-sided enclosure” of the hall space in Huizhou traditional dwellings.

(3)

Wing Room Space

Figure 5 shows the “four-sided enclosure” of the wing room space. The doors and windows of the wing room space often face the courtyard space and are rarely on the outside wall, which is to prevent theft.

2.2. Plan Design

The new dwelling in southern Anhui province is proposed to be built in Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, which is a single-family house with two floors above ground. According to the common household size of families in Anhui province [11], the study is for three generations of five people living together with a total floor area of about 180~220 m².

According to the research, the plane shapes of Huizhou traditional dwellings are often rectangular, “回” type and “凹” type, with a width range of 5.4 to13.2 m and a depth range of 6.9 to 22.7 m. In order to study the influence of aspect ratio on thermal comfort and energy consumption, the rectangular shape is used in plan 1, plan 2 and plan 4, the square shape in plan 3, the “回” type in plan 6, and the “凹” type in plan 5 and plan 7. In order to study the influence of courtyard space on thermal comfort and energy consumption, courtyard space was added to plans 5 to 7, where the courtyard area was selected according to the area range of 4.1 to 22.2 m² in the research. The area of the living room in the new dwelling in southern Anhui is 20 to 25 m², the second bedroom is 15 m², the main bedroom is 15 to 25 m², and the dining room and study room are about 15 m², which are basically set according to the recommendation [12]. In order to avoid narrow space, the aspect ratio of the main rooms in the interior is less than 2. In order to study the influence of room enclosure on thermal comfort and energy consumption, all rooms in plans 1 to 4 are “four-sided enclosure”. Plans 5 and 7 are “four-sided enclosure” except for the courtyard, which is “two-sided enclosure”, and the living room, which is “three-sided enclosure”. Plan 6 is “four-sided enclosure” except for the courtyard and living room which are “three-sided enclosure”. According to the results of the research on the layers and heights of dwellings in southern Anhui province, the height of the building is 3 m and the layers are 2 in the study.

The seven architectural designs designed in the study are rich in space types, and the orientation of each room is different, so the rooms with greater influence on the indoor thermal environment and energy consumption are selected as the objects of study.

Table 1. Main design indicators of the new dwellings in southern Anhui province.

Plan	Aspect Ratio	Courtyard	Room Orientation						Room Enclosure
			East	South	North	Southeast	Southwest	Northeast	“Two-Sided Enclosure”	“Three-Sided Enclosure”	“Four-Sided Enclosure”
1	0.3		√					√			√
2	0.7					√	√				√
3	0.9					√	√				√
4	1.6			√			√				√
5	0.4	“凹” type courtyard	√					√	√	√	√
6	1.3	“回” type courtyard			√		√			√	√
7	1.3	“凹” type courtyard			√		√		√	√	√

Note: √ indicates the presence of this item.

shows the main design indicators of the new dwellings in southern Anhui province, where the comparison of room orientation is mainly for bedroom 1 and bedroom 3.

2.3. Simulation of Environment and Energy Consumption

The model of plans 1 to 7 which were established by DesignBuilder software and based on the architectural drawings of the new dwellings in southern Anhui province. The model is divided into three blocks (Block), including the first floor, the second floor, and the roof block. The first-floor block contains the thermal areas (Zone), including living room, dining room, bedroom 1, kitchen, bathroom, stairs, etc. The second-floor block contains thermal areas (Zone), including study room, bedroom 2, bedroom 3, storage room, bathroom, staircase, etc. The modeling effects of plans 1 to 7 are shown in Figure 6. The dwellings in southern Anhui province usually open doors and windows in summer and use natural ventilation of the courtyard for passive cooling [13]. The doors, windows, and screens are closed to reduce the ventilation rate and improve the airtightness in winter. When natural ventilation cannot satisfy indoor comfort, air conditioning begins cooling or heating, so the energy consumption simulation focuses on air conditioning.

The location of the new dwellings in southern Anhui province was selected as Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. The cooling season is from 15 June to 31 August, and the heating season is from 1 December to 28 February. Heating and cooling run intermittently according to the personal usage rate, and the operation schedule is 0:00 to 8:00 on weekdays to turn on the air conditioner, 8:00 to 15:00 to turn off, and 15:00 to 24:00 to turn on. On weekends or holidays, the air conditioner is turned on from 0:00 to 10:00, turned off from 10:00 to 15:00, and turned on from 15:00 to 24:00. The heating control temperature is 18 °C, and the cooling control temperature is 26 °C.

The thermal comfort and air conditioning energy consumption of all rooms in each plan are simulated by DesignBuilder software to obtain the effects of different plane and space factors, such as aspect ratio, presence or absence of courtyards, room orientation, and room enclosed method on indoor thermal comfort and air conditioning energy consumption. Finally, the impact results are analyzed.

3. Results

3.1. The Plans of New Dwelling in Southern Anhui Province

According to the changing pattern of the plane and space of dwellings in southern Anhui province and the needs of modern life, the following seven new dwellings in southern Anhui province are designed.

3.1.1. Plan 1

Figure 7 is the architectural drawing of plan 1 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 5.64 m and a depth of 17.04 m, which is the plan with a large depth and no courtyard. The building sits east and faces west, and the main entrance is on the west side. Entering from the main entrance on the first floor, the living room is directly opposite the main entrance. The south side of the living room is arranged with a dining room and kitchen, and the north side is arranged with bedroom 1 and bathroom. Entering the second floor from the first-floor staircase, bedroom 2 and bathroom are arranged on the north side of the staircase, and bedroom 3, study room, and storage room are arranged on the south side.

3.1.2. Plan 2

Figure 8 is the architectural drawing of plan 2 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 8.04 m and a depth of 11.64 m, which is the plan with a square and no courtyard. The building sits north and faces south, and the main entrance is on the south side. Entering from the main entrance on the first floor, the living room is directly opposite the main entrance. The north side of the living room is arranged with a dining room and kitchen, and the west side is arranged with bedroom 1 and bathroom. From the east staircase of the first floor, the study room and storage room are arranged on the north side of the staircase, bedroom 2 and bedroom 3 are arranged on the south side, and the bathroom is arranged on the west side.

3.1.3. Plan 3

Figure 9 is the architectural drawing of plan 3 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 9.24 m and a depth of 10.14 m, which is the plan with a square and no courtyard. The building orientation and space layout are the same as plan 2.

3.1.4. Plan 4

Figure 10 is the architectural drawing of plan 4 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 12.24 m and a depth of 7.74 m, which is the plan with a large width and no courtyard. The building sits north and faces south, and the main entrance is on the south side. Entering from the main entrance on the first floor, the living room is directly opposite the main entrance. The east side of the living room is arranged with a dining room and kitchen, and the west side is arranged with bedroom 1 and bathroom. The staircase on the east side of the first floor leads to the second floor, where a study room and a storage room are arranged on the east side of the staircase, bedroom 3 is arranged on the south side, and bedroom 2 and a bathroom are arranged on the west side.

3.1.5. Plan 5

Figure 11 is the architectural drawing of plan 5 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 6.84 m and a depth of 17.04 m, which is the plan with a large depth and courtyard. The building orientation and space layout are the same as plan 1, except that a “凹” type courtyard is added to the west side of the living room, thus forming a viewing corridor and increasing the spatial richness. The second floor has a living room, kitchen, dining room and bedroom 1, and the second floor has a storage room, study room, bedroom 2, bedroom 3, etc.

3.1.6. Plan 6

Figure 12 is the architectural drawing of plan 6 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui, with a width of 12.24 m and a depth of 9.54 m, which is the plan with a large width and a courtyard. The building orientation and space layout are the same as that of plan 4, with a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom 1, etc. A study room, bedroom 2, bedroom 3, and storage room on the second floor. For people with higher usage requirements and aesthetic needs, plan 6 adds a “回” type courtyard on the south side of plan 4. A foyer is added on the first floor, and the second floor is designed with a viewing corridor and a viewing balcony, which greatly enhances the richness of the space.

3.1.7. Plan 7

Figure 13 is the architectural drawing of plan 7 of a new dwelling in southern Anhui province, with a width of 12.24 m and a depth of 9.54 m, which is the plan with a large width and a courtyard. The orientation and space layout of the building are the same as plan 4, except that a “凹” type courtyard is added to the south of the living room to increase the richness of the space. The first floor has a living room, kitchen, dining room, and bedroom 1, while the second floor has a storage room, study room, bedroom 2, and bedroom 3.

3.2. Impact of Plane and Space Factors on Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption

3.2.1. Aspect Ratio

Table 2. The effect of aspect ratio on indoor thermal comfort hours and energy consumption.

Plan	Aspect Ratio	Indoor Thermal Comfort Hours (h)			Energy Consumption of Unit Air-Conditioned Area (kWh/m2)
		Winter	Summer	Year-Round	Heating Energy Consumption	Cooling Energy Consumption	Total Energy Consumption
1	0.3	9199	5687	42,951	42.9	42.6	85.5
2	0.7	10,017	5954	44,188	39.1	44.2	83.3
3	0.9	10,029	5903	44,135	39.3	44.9	84.2
4	1.6	10,834	6384	45,398	35.3	42.9	78.3

shows the analysis results of the thermal comfort hours and energy consumption for all rooms of plans 1 to 4 in summer and winter. As the aspect ratio increases, the indoor thermal comfort hours of the large aspect ratio plan are about 12.3% higher than the small aspect ratio in summer and about 17.8% higher in winter. The change in energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area is that the heating energy consumption decreases significantly, the large width plan is about 15.9% lower than the large depth plan, and the cooling energy consumption fluctuates slightly. The cooling energy consumption fluctuates slightly. Therefore, as the aspect ratio becomes larger, the thermal comfort improves and the energy consumption decreases throughout the year.

3.2.2. Courtyard

Plans 6 and 7 have similar proportions and plane shapes as plan 4, where the south courtyard of plan 6 is a “回” type courtyard and plan 7 is a “凹” type courtyard.

Table 3. The effect of the presence or absence of courtyards on indoor thermal comfort hours and energy consumption.

Plan	Courtyard	Indoor Thermal Comfort Hours (h)			Energy Consumption of Unit Air-Conditioned Area (kWh/m2)
		Winter	Summer	Year-Round	Heating Energy Consumption	Cooling Energy Consumption	Total Energy Consumption
4		10,834	6384	45,398	35.3	42.9	78.3
5	“凹” type courtyard	4988	6948	39,964	85.1	62.0	147.1
6	“回” type courtyard	7729	7183	42,957	57.4	66	123.4
7	“凹” type courtyard	7148	6180	41,448	66.2	34.4	100.5

shows the analysis results of thermal comfort hours and energy consumption for all rooms in summer and winter for plan 4, plan 6, and plan 7. Plan 6 has 28.7% lower indoor thermal comfort hours in winter and 12.5% higher in summer compared with plan 4. The energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area is about 62.6% higher for heating and 53.8% higher for cooling. Plan 7 has 34% lower indoor thermal comfort hours in winter and 3.2% lower in summer compared with plan 4. The energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area for heating is about 87.5% higher and the energy consumption for cooling is about 19.8% lower. Therefore, the plan with courtyard is higher in thermal comfort in summer, lower in thermal comfort in winter, and higher in heating and cooling energy consumption compared with the plan without courtyard. The reason is that the courtyard has the effect of increasing thermal pressure ventilation on summer nights, and natural ventilation can effectively take away indoor heat and have a passive cooling effect, but the poor airtightness will lead to heat dissicourtyardn, cold air infiltration, and weak insulation in winter. Therefore, building airtightness can be optimized by installing open and closed courtyards. The “回” type courtyard is more thermally comfortable than the “凹” type courtyard, mainly because of the small area of the “回” type courtyard. The “回” type courtyard has a smaller area and higher floor height, which enhances the thermal pressure effect in the courtyard and can effectively suppress wind pressure ventilation in winter [13] and has a better function of “hiding wind and gathering air”.

3.2.3. Room Orientation

Table 4. The effect of thermal comfort ratio and energy consumption in different room orientations for bedroom 1 and bedroom 3 in summer and winter.

Season	Plan	Percentage of Indoor Thermal Comfort Time for Each Room Orientation (%)					Energy Consumption of Unit Air-Conditioned Area (kWh/m2)
		E	S	SE	SW	NE	E	S	SE	SW	NE
Summer	1	37.1				83.6	41.59				24.2
	2			38	74.3				40.7	29.57
	3			39.6	73.5				46.1	30.17
	4		45.5		76.7			36.79		29.11
	Average	37.1	45.5	38.8	74.8	83.6	41.59	36.79	43.4	29.62	24.2
Winter	1	66.3				55.2	26.78				46.1
	2			80.5	83.9				22.1	25.18
	3			75.8	84.2				23.9	24.11
	4		82.7		83.5			16.29		26.13
	Average	66.3	82.7	78.15	83.87	55.2	26.78	16.29	23	25.14	46.1

shows the analysis results of the percentage of thermal comfort time and energy consumption in different room orientations for bedroom 1 and bedroom 3 in summer and winter of plans 1 to 4. When the room orientation is northeast, the percentage of indoor thermal comfort time is 125.3% higher than east in summer. When the room orientation is southwest, the percentage of indoor thermal comfort time is 51.9% higher than northeast in winter because the intensity of solar radiation is low in the northeast in summer, with less direct sunlight and shorter time and receives less heat from the outside. The solar radiation is strong in the southwest, and the heat gain is high in winter. When the room orientation is southeast, the energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area is 79.3% higher than northeast for cooling. When the room orientation is northeast, the energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area is 183% more than south for heating because the solar radiation intensity is high in southeast in summer, and the heat gain is higher and the energy consumption is high. The northeast wind prevails in Hot-summer and Cold-winter Zone in winter, so the ventilation rate in this orientation is high, the heat loss and energy consumption are high.

3.2.4. Room Enclosure

Table 5. The effect of indoor thermal comfort ratio in summer and winter and total energy consumption by different enclosures.

Season	Plan	“Two-Sided Enclosure”	“Three-Sided Enclosure”		“Four-Sided Enclosure”
		Courtyard	Courtyard	Living Room	Dining Room	Study Room	Bedroom 1	Bedroom 2	Bedroom 3
Percentage of indoor thermal comfort time in summer (%)	5	58.3		57.9	65.3	53.3	81.9	62.4	50.4
	6		56.9	61.8	70.0	56.5	81.4	58.8	55.3
	7	54.6		59.3	63.1	40.4	74.1	47.1	46.1
Average		56.45%	59%		60.4%
Percentage of indoor thermal comfort time in winter (%)	5	24.1		26.8	69.0	60.9	26.7	15.6	32.0
	6		57.1	60.2	68.4	61.2	63.3	59.9	44.9
	7	29.9		36.7	68.0	69.2	60.7	61.3	35.1
Average		27%	45.2%		53.1%
Total energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area (kWh/m2)	5			1712.5	113.1	143.5	96.0	116.8	98.1
	6			246.4	101.6	149.1	69.8	94.8	62.8
	7			616.3	127.8	127.5	75.1	75.8	56.3
Average				858.4	100.54

shows the analysis results of indoor thermal comfort ratio and total energy consumption of unit air-conditioned area for different enclosures in summer and winter of plans 5 to 7. In summer, the indoor thermal comfort ratio of each enclosure is not much different, while in winter, “three-sided enclosure” and “four-sided enclosure” are higher than “two-sided enclosure” by about 67.4% and 96.7%, respectively. For air conditioning energy consumption, the “three-sided enclosure” is much higher than the “four-sided enclosure”. Therefore, the open plan has higher energy consumption and poorer thermal comfort in winter because of the large ventilation rate in the open rooms and the airtightness of the building is poor, the air infiltration is high and the poor insulation performance in winter. According to relevant studies, the heat loss caused by air infiltration accounts for 25% to 50% of the building heat load [14], so the energy consumption is higher, and it is not appropriate to install air conditioning. Therefore, in the case of modern air conditioning to create the environment, the way of building enclosure should be distinguished from ancient and tends to be closed as much as possible.

4. Conclusions

By researching and analyzing the changes of plane and space characteristics of the dwellings in southern Anhui province from the traditional period to the New Rural period, seven plans of new dwellings in southern Anhui province are designed and simulated with the indoor thermal environment and energy consumption as the evaluation indexes, taking into account the needs of modern people living. Then, the indoor thermal and humid environment and energy consumption characteristics of the seven plans are studies, and finally, the impact of aspect ratio, presence or absence of courtyard, room orientation, and room enclosure on indoor thermal environment and energy consumption are quantitatively analyzed through plan comparison, and the following conclusions are finally reached.

(1) The plan with a large aspect ratio has high thermal comfort and low energy consumption, with the indoor thermal comfort of the large aspect ratio plan about 12.3% higher than the small aspect ratio in summer and about 17.8% higher in winter, and the heating energy consumption of the large width plan is about 15.9% lower than the large depth plan. Therefore, the large depth plan has low thermal comfort and high energy consumption and is recommended not to be used in the design of dwellings. Good indoor thermal comfort and low energy consumption when the room is located in the northeast, southwest, and south. When the room orientation is northeast, the indoor thermal comfort is 125.3% higher than east in summer. When the room orientation is southwest, the indoor thermal comfort is 52% higher than northeast in winter. When the room orientation is northeast, the energy consumption is 44.2% lower than southeast for cooling. When the room orientation is south, the energy consumption is 64.7% lower than northeast for heating.

(2) The plan with courtyard has good indoor thermal comfort in summer and poor indoor thermal comfort in winter, where the “回” type courtyard has better thermal comfort than the “凹” type courtyard throughout the year. The plan with “回” type courtyard has 28.7% lower indoor thermal comfort in winter and 12.5% higher in summer compared with the plan without courtyard. The plan with “凹” type courtyard has 34% lower indoor thermal comfort in winter and 3.2% lower in summer compared with the plan without courtyard.

(3) The fully enclosed room has better indoor thermal comfort and low energy consumption. The indoor thermal comfort of “four-sided enclosure” plan is higher than “three-sided enclosure” and “two-sided enclosure” plan by about 17.5% and 96.7% in winter, and the energy consumption of the “three-sided enclosure” is much higher than the “four-sided enclosure”.