Study on the Influence of Window Size on the Thermal Comfort of Traditional One-Seal Dwellings (Yikeyin) in Kunming Under Natural Wind

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Abstract
Under the dual challenges of global energy crisis and climate change, the building sector, as a major carbon emitter consuming 33% of global primary energy, has seen its energy efficiency optimization become a critical pathway towards achieving carbon neutrality goals. The Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR), serving as a core parameter in building envelope design, directly influences building energy consumption, with its optimized design playing a decisive role in balancing natural daylighting, ventilation efficiency, and thermal comfort. This study focuses on the traditional One-Seal dwellings (Yikeyin) in Kunming, China, establishing a dynamic wind field-thermal environment coupled analysis framework to investigate the impact mechanism of window dimensions (WWR and aspect ratio) on indoor thermal comfort under natural wind conditions in transitional climate zones. Utilizing the Grasshopper platform integrated with Ladybug, Honeybee, and Butterfly plugins, we developed parametric models incorporating Kunming’s Energy Plus Weather meteorological data. EnergyPlus and OpenFOAM were employed, respectively, for building heat-moisture balance calculations and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations, with particular emphasis on analyzing the effects of varying WWR (0.05–0.20) on temperature-humidity, air velocity, and ventilation efficiency during typical winter and summer weeks. Key findings include, (1) in summer, the baseline scenario with WWR = 0.1 achieves a dynamic thermal-humidity balance (20.89–24.27 °C, 65.35–74.22%) through a “air-permeable but non-ventilative” strategy, though wing rooms show humidity-heat accumulation risks; increasing WWR to 0.15–0.2 enhances ventilation efficiency (2–3 times higher air changes) but causes a 4.5% humidity surge; (2) winter conditions with WWR ≥ 0.15 reduce wing room temperatures to 17.32 °C, approaching cold thresholds, while WWR = 0.05 mitigates heat loss but exacerbates humidity accumulation; (3) a symmetrical layout structurally constrains central ventilation, maintaining main halls air changes below one Air Change per Hour (ACH). The study proposes an optimized WWR range of 0.1–0.15 combined with asymmetric window opening strategies, providing quantitative guidance for validating the scientific value of vernacular architectural wisdom in low-energy design.
Funding Information
  • Yunnan Provincial Basic Research Program (202501AT070217, 2025J0017, 2023Y43, XDYC-QNRC-2024-366)
  • Scientific Research Fund of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education (202501AT070217, 2025J0017, 2023Y43, XDYC-QNRC-2024-366)
  • Yunnan University Education and Teaching Reform Research (202501AT070217, 2025J0017, 2023Y43, XDYC-QNRC-2024-366)
  • Yunnan Province Xingdian Talent Support Program-Young Talent Special Project (202501AT070217, 2025J0017, 2023Y43, XDYC-QNRC-2024-366)

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