THE THERMAL

PERFORMANCE OF CHINESE
VERNACULAR SKYWELL
DWELLINGS
Authors: Gang Yao, Dongting Han, Li Zhang and Zhongzheng Duan
Hindawi, Advances in Civil Engineering Volume 2021,
Article ID 6666701

Submitted by
SANA YUESEPH.N.V, 201122016.
ABSTRACT
• Aim – To assess the thermal performance of Chinese ON-SITE
vernacular skywell dwellings. MEASUREMENT
• Little published information on the quantitative thermal
THERMAL 8 DWELLINGS IN XIDI,
performance of Chinese vernacular dwellings with sky well. PERFORMANCE ZHIFENG & YUYUAN ANALYSIS

• Keywords: Thermal performance, Chinese, Vernacular,

COMPUTER
Skywell dwellings, Thermal comfort, Evaporative cooling, SIMULATION
Climate responsive
STUDY AREA COMMON FEATURES OF THE HOUSES STUDIED
• Symmetrical and rectangular in plan.
• Generally 2-3 stories high.
• Skywell and an open hall facing it on the
long Axis of the plan.
• 8 dwellings of 3 major types:
i. 3-in-1 house: the prototype
ii. 4-in-1 houses: two 3-in-1 houses
face-to-face with a common skywell.
iii. H-shaped houses: two 3-in-1 houses
back to back with skywells on
opposite sides.

Building
design &
performance
Humid and subtropical
with strong winters.
Principal building materials used
• Wood Wind
velocity
Air
temperature

• Brick Variables
• White lime studied
• Stone
• Mixture of sand, tung oil, lime,
rice slurry etc.
Hilly areas Developed around a • Fired clay Surface
temperatures
Relative
humidity

stream
METHODOLOGY TOOLS USED
HYPOTHESIS: TEMPERATURE INSIDE
Data loggers
THE SKWELLS IS LOWER THAN To record air temperature
EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE and humidity within the
dwellings

STUDIED 8 DWELLINGS
Ecotect software
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF To study direct solar
THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF radiation in to the skywell
SKYWELL DWELLINGS

CYTPsySoft
To obtain and study
Psychrometric charts
ON-SITE MEASUREMENTS OF DBT COMPUTER SIMULATION OF SOLAR
AND RH CONDITIONS

DBT and RH were recorded for 7 days in

THERMAL COMFORT INFLUENCED
BY THERMAL MASS, EVAPORATIVE
COOLING, CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS AND SOLAR RADIATION
summer and winter.
Only data for Xidi and Yuyuan for winter are
presented since data for Zhifeng are recorded
in different periods.
RESULTS
DRY BULB TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY
• On each of the summer recording days,
the peaks in the DBT traces obtained in
the skywells of the eight dwellings
studied were distinctly smaller than the
external DBTs, while the trough values
were close to the external DBTs.
• On each of the winter recording days,
both the peaks and troughs were
considerably smaller than the external
DBTs.
• The Absolute Humidity of the air inside
the skywell is usually higher than that
of the external air throughout the
diurnal cycle.
• It can therefore be concluded that
evaporation did occur in the skywells
of dwellings of Xidi and Zhifeng villages.
RESULTS

MASS OF THE BUILDING

• The specific mass of the type of wall
encountered in the 8 dwellings studied
was calculated to be over 400 kg/m2
WATER SOURCES FOR EVAPORATION
(e.g., 680 kg/m2 in the Yingfu dwelling).
• Water held within construction
• The massive structure of Chinese
materials (all houses),
vernacular dwellings acts as a heat sink.
• Water in the traditional stone trough
• With their high heat capacity, the walls
(present in most skywell houses),
and floor absorb heat during the
• And water from the skywell floor
summer day and release it during the
(regularly deposited in some skywell
night.
houses).
• Thus, heat is stored in the construction
materials and its entry into the dwelling
is delayed.
• This leads to a reduction of the
temperature fluctuation inside the
skywell markedly.
RESULTS

CONCLUSION
SOLAR GAIN
The solar gain within the skywell depends on • External DBT was lower inside the skywells in summer.
• the solar irradiance • Chinese Vernacular dwellings have high heat capacities. Hence
• the size of the skywell resistant to temperature fluctuations.
• the transmittance of the skywell glazing, if • Evaporative cooling influenced the temperature in dwellings of Xidi
present. and Zhifeng villages.
When the skywell is small, the amount of solar • In the dwellings of Yuyuan, skywells were larger like courtyards
radiation penetrating into a skywell dwelling is reducing the effect of evaporative cooling.
restricted. • The construction materials are likely to be hygroscopic.
• Dwellings in Zhifeng and Xidi receive lesser solar radiation resulting
in lower indoor DBT.