*2.1. Influencing Parameters*

The parameters that influence thermal mass performance generally include the thermal environment condition, construction, occupant scheduling, and the heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system and its own operational strategy [4].

## 2.1.1. Thermal Environment Conditions

The effect of thermal mass is clear in the places with moderate climate or deep diurnal temperature differences [4,10,16]. This study selects two typical places in China as examples; namely, Beijing and Nanjing. According to the Chinese Building Climate Demarcation [44], Beijing is in the cold area, where the maximum air dry-bulb temperature reaches 34.73 ◦C on a cooling design day (e.g., July 21, and referenced as BJ\_7/21) and varies over a large range (i.e., 8.6 K); meanwhile, Nanjing is in the hot summer and cold winter area, where the peak value is 35.1 ◦C on the cooling design day, and the temperature difference between the maximum and minimum values is 6.5 K. On a typical day in the transient season (e.g., June 14), the peak outdoor air dry-bulb temperature in Beijing remains high (i.e., 32.71 ◦C), but the minimum temperature decreases to 19.17 ◦C. By contrast, on the typical day in Nanjing (referenced as NJ\_6/14), the temperature decreases, ranging from 19.25 ◦C to 27.89 ◦C. In addition, indoor design temperature can be set as 26 ◦C (operative temperature) during the occupied period (07:00–19:00).
