Discussion on built environment design and operation in the Yangtze River Basin—Thermal-behavior based analysis

The Yangtze River Basin has a unique climate with hot summer, cold winter and high humidity all-round the year. There are many factors affecting the indoor thermal environment of the building, and the relationship is complicated. Correctly understanding the building thermal process is essential for creating energy-efficient indoor thermal environments. Establishes an energy flow diagram to show the relationship among the main factors of built environment design and operation such as heat gain/loss, cooling/heating loads, cooling/heating supply and energy consumption. Presents the principles of current building energy saving technologies and their applications in the Yangtze River Basin. Simulates the indoor thermal environments of typical residential buildings in the Yangtze River Basin. The results show that the most influencing factor is building envelope for cooling and infiltration for heating. Integrating natural ventilation and energy efficient equipment, the residential buildings could have an annual HVAC energy consumption of no more than 20 kWh/m2 on the basis of meeting the thermal comfort standard.