![Sample our Economics, Finance,Business & Industry journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5931/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Economics-Finance-Business-Industry.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Passive solar houses comprise crucial strategies of reducing heating and cooling energy for buildings, which have been extensively used in plenty of nations. This study develops a study on indoor thermal environment, the energy-saving performance and natural lighting in different heating climate regions (represented by Lhasa, Xining and Urumqi). An attached-sunspace solar house integrated with phase change material floors is also proposed to ameliorate indoor thermal comfort and simultaneously diminish the heating energy consumption. In addition, the dominant factors analysis of building envelope affecting building energy consumption are sensitively studied. Moreover, the influence of the depth of sunspace and the intensities of internal heat gain on indoor thermal conditions and heating energy consumption are further analyzed. The results indicate that among the three types of solar houses, the passive solar sunspace offers the most stable indoor temperature and Trombe-wall solar houses and attached-sunspace solar houses have striking energy-saving advantages compared with the traditional houses. And the annual power consumption of 695.1 kWh, 427.4 kWh and 688.8 kWh in Lhasa, Xining and Urumqi can be saved in view of natural lighting respectively. Additionally, the whole natural temperature of attached-sunspace solar house is on the rise apparently when the PCM floors are embedded in the house and the energy saving fraction of these three regions is 81.9% for Lhasa, 68.8% for Xining, 55.7% for Urumqi respectively with the integration of phase change floors. The sensitivity analysis of key parameters impacting building energy consumption from high to low are the heat transfer coefficient of external wall, the ratio of window to wall, air tightness, the heat transfer coefficient of external window, and the heat transfer coefficient of roof. The depth of 1.2 m for sunspace is recommended as the optimal choice. Indoor natural temperature is on the rise as intensities of internal heat gain increase. The same downward trend for the main bedroom and the whole building is displayed with the increasing interior heat sources in terms of annual heating load.
Nomenclature
| Abbreviations | = | |
| ASBW | = | attached sunspace with breathing window |
| ATBs | = | adsorption thermal batteries |
| DeST | = | Designer’s Simulation Toolkit |
| EPS | = | expanded polystyrene |
| ESF | = | energy saving fraction |
| FGHP | = | lat gravity-assisted heat pipes |
| GHG | = | greenhouse gas |
| HVAC | = | heating, ventilation and air conditioning |
| IEA | = | International Energy Agency |
| WTSW | = | water thermal storage wall |
| PCM | = | phase change material |
| PSH | = | passive solar house |
| Symbols | = | |
| Q | = | heating load |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Gaochao Li
Gaochao Li is the postgraduate student at Xinjiang University, specializing in the integration of renewable energy and zero-carbon buildings.
Wenbo Gu
Wenbo Gu is an associate professor at Xinjiang University, specializing in renewable energy and zero-carbon building integration.
Arepati Xiermaimaiti
Arepati Xiermaimaiti is the postgraduate student at Xinjiang University, specializing in the integration of renewable energy and zero-carbon buildings.