Experimental study on improvement of indoor thermal environment of buildings in high altitude areas at night in winter by different sheltering methods

• Published in: Energy and buildings Vol. 311; p. 114142
• Main Authors: Jia, Yonghong, Jiang, Xingchi, Zhang, Wentao, Liao, Yuxuan, Hu, Wenxin, Zhang, Yin, Long, Enshen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15-05-2024
• Subjects: High-altitude buildings; Indoor thermal environment; Non uniform thermal environment; Radiative sky cooling; Non uniform thermal environment; Indoor thermal environment; Radiative sky cooling; High-altitude buildings
• ISSN: 0378-7788
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114142

•Improvement measures to weaken the effect of radiant sky cooling on the indoor thermal environment of buildings at high altitude during winter at night are proposed, and the improvement effect of different sheltering methods on the indoor thermal environment of buildings during winter at night under real outdoor conditions at high altitude is experimentally investigated.•The sheltering measures can play a role in improving the indoor thermal environment. Particularly, the average temperature difference between indoor and outdoor in unsheltering building is up to −1.96 °C, that of top sheltering building is −1.01 °C, and that of full sheltering building can be as high as 0.14 °C.•The sheltering measures can effectively reduce the energy consumption for heating. The equivalent energy saving rate of top sheltering measure is 7.76%, even reaches 26.27% by full sheltering.•The results of the experimental study revealed the existence of non-uniformity in the indoor thermal environment of buildings at high altitude, and point out that the wall temperature difference in the vertical direction is the main contradiction.
The indoor thermal environment of buildings at high altitudes is poor in winter, and radiative sky cooling is not conducive to indoor thermal comfort, so it is necessary to investigate improvement measures and their impact. In the present study, a series of comparative outdoor experiments were conducted in Songpan at an altitude of 2850 m. Three identical model buildings were constructed to empirically compare the effects of different shelter measures on the indoor thermal environment of the buildings in winter under non-heated and heated conditions. The results showed that under non-heating conditions, the average temperature difference between the indoor air and the environment of the unsheltered building at night reached −1.96℃ and even reached up to −3.1℃, and the temperature difference between the upper surface of the wall and the outside environment could reach up to −3.6℃, demonstrating a significant cold room phenomenon. Under the same heating performance conditions, the average indoor-outdoor air temperature difference between the three comparison buildings at night was 18.42 °C (no shelter), 19.85 °C (top shelter) and 23.36 °C (full shelter), indicating that shelter measures can significantly improve the indoor thermal environment. Sheltering measures also serve to reduce heating energy consumption under heating conditions, with equivalent energy savings of up to 26.27 % for the fully sheltered building. In addition, we also found that the indoor thermal environment of high-altitude buildings has a non-uniform phenomenon, and the temperature difference of the wall in the vertical direction is the main contradiction, and the sheltering measures can significantly improve the non-uniform phenomenon of the thermal environment.