This study investigates how visual environmental characteristics influence thermal comfort through emotional and autonomic pathways, addressing gaps in traditional thermophysical models. Unlike prior research focusing on physical parameters, we propose a novel multisensory integration framework. Using a virtual reality-climate chamber paradigm, 64 participants (mean age 21.5 years) experienced varied visual environments (building obstruction: 0-90 %; green view: blank, shrubs, trees, combined) at 26 degrees C, 50 % RH. Multimodal assessments integrated subjective ratings, electrodermal activity, heart rate variability, and eye-tracking. A 15-20 % green view ratio (arbor similar to 15 %; combined similar to 30 % yielding comparable optimal effects) reduced thermal sensation by 1.03-1.05 units (dz = 1.52, p less than 0.001). Structural equation modeling confirmed a cascade pathway ("visual stimuli" to "emotion" to "autonomic activation" to "thermal perception"), explaining 48 % of comfort variance. Building obstruction above 60 % increased physiological stress despite subjective cooling. Thermal acceptability improved by similar to 0.46 units with green views (95 % CI [0.26, 0.66]). Visual optimization may offer energy-efficient comfort enhancement, estimated equivalent to a 0.5-1 degrees C setpoint shift [using TSV-temperature slopes of 0.3-0.5 units/degrees C from literature ([14]; [25])], with speculative energy savings of 5-10 % ([23]; requires building-specific simulation). This framework advances multisensory perception and provides evidence-based strategies for sustainable building design, with preliminary applications in healthcare and educational settings among young adults, pending validation in diverse populations.

Urban residents require space-efficient interventions to mitigate chronic stress. While indoor digital nature shows promise, the precise impact of interactive design parameters remains unclear. This study investigated how interactive feedback intensity (none, slow, fast) and color hue (neutral, warm, cool) influence psychological and physiological restoration. Following negative emotion induction, healthy participants engaged in within-subject conditions evaluated via multimodal assessments, including EEG, HRV, and subjective scales (PANAS, PRS, SAM/PAD). Results identified interactive feedback intensity as the primary driver of restoration. Specifically, fast feedback improved positive affect by up to 20.4% and reduced negative affect by 20.8% compared to passive self-restoration. Neurologically, interactive engagement was associated with elevated EEG alpha-band activity by up to 97.8% relative to standing controls, a pattern consistent with cortical relaxation. Furthermore, while physical interaction was uniformly associated with physiological indices broadly consistent with recovery, color hue significantly moderated subjective outcomes. Neutral and warm hues generated significantly higher overall perceived restorativeness (M = 73.18 and M = 70.14, respectively) than the self-restoration control (M = 61.26). Notably, neutral tones were uniquely associated with modest changes in HRV time-domain indices suggestive of parasympathetic autonomic modulation. These findings provide actionable, empirically validated guidelines for deploying responsive digital interventions to support mental well-being in dense urban interiors.

As an eco-friendly natural building material, rammed earth possesses outstanding hygrothermal performance, which plays a vital role in achieving the goals of sustainable architecture. However, most existing simulations assume constant hygrothermal parameters, resulting in considerable discrepancies between predicted and actual energy performance and consequently underestimating the true passive regulatory potential of rammed earth. To enhance the accuracy of energy consumption predictions in rammed earth buildings, this study integrates experimental measurements with dynamic simulations and experimentally determines both the constant and non-constant hygrothermal parameters of rammed earth. By integrating experimental and simulation approaches, this study reveals a strong positive linear correlation between the thermal conductivity of rammed earth and its moisture content (R2 = 0.9919), increasing from 0.77 W/(m·K) to 1.38 W/(m·K) as moisture content rises from 0% to 14%, whereas the moisture resistance factor decreases exponentially with increasing relative humidity (RH). Subsequently, the two sets of hygrothermal parameters were implemented in the WUFI-Plus simulation platform to conduct annual dynamic simulations across five representative Chinese climate zones (Harbin, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Dali), systematically comparing the performance differences between the “non-constant” and “constant” parameter models. The results show that the non-constant parameter model effectively captures the dynamic hygrothermal regulation of rammed earth, exhibiting superior passive performance. It predicts substantially lower building energy loads, with heating energy reductions most pronounced in Harbin and Beijing (16.9% and 15.5%) and cooling energy reductions most significant in Guangzhou and Nanjing (15.8% and 15.2%). This study confirms that accurately accounting for the dynamic hygrothermal coupling process is fundamental to reliably evaluating the performance of hygroscopic materials such as rammed earth, providing a robust scientific basis for promoting energy-efficient, low-carbon, and climate-responsive sustainable building design.

Old city courtyards are crucial elements of Beijing’s ancient capital. However, existing ones face heating problems. This study focuses on renovated and original-style courtyards. By employing ENVI-met and DeST software, we comprehensively analyzed the courtyard’s thermal environment, ventilation, indoor conditions, and energy consumption. Findings reveal that both types have thermal discomfort. Original courtyards are colder in winter and hotter in summer due to wind and radiation. They possess better ventilation but a higher winter heating load. Both require winter heating, with the original ones having a larger unit area load because of envelope heat loss and ventilation differences. Their direct electric heating consumptions, 187.6 kWh/m2 and 229.6 kWh/m2, respectively, surpass ordinary residences. This study defines issues for future green and low-carbon courtyard work.

Research indicates that exposure to natural environments positively impacts both physiological and psychological well-being. However, extraordinary, awesome landscapes, such as the mesmerizing Arctic and mysterious underwater scene, particularly contribute to enhancing emotional well-being. More exploration needs to be done exploration into the specific emotional and healing recovery effects of extraordinary natural landscapes. This study employs a combination of objective physiological measurements and subjective evaluations to investigate the therapeutic benefits of extraordinary natural landscapes. Sixty-two university volunteers experienced three ordinary natural landscapes and four extraordinary natural landscapes in a virtual reality setting. Participants wore wearable devices to collect physiological data, including EEG and HRV valves. Subjective questionnaires, semantic differential scales to assess the extraordinariness of landscapes, perceived restorativeness scale, and PAD emotional scale were utilized to evaluate recovery effects and emotional impacts. Results showed that: 1) Compared to ordinary nature, extraordinary nature demonstrates more significant recovery and emotional improvement effects. 2)The semantic differential scale evaluated the extraordinariness of natural landscapes across five dimensions: awe, remoteness, mystery, complexity, and uniqueness, with uniqueness being the predominant influencing factor. 3)As the extraordinariness of natural landscapes increases, the recovery effect also improves gradually. However, excessive exposure to extraordinary natural landscapes shows a diminishing therapeutic effect. These findings underscore the superior recovery effects of extraordinary nature, validated by physiological data and subjective ratings. The study highlights the potential of extraordinary nature as therapeutic material, offering a fresh perspective and quantitative data to study therapeutic landscapes.

The subjective encounter with architecture encompasses the particular presentation of architectural elements or the overall structure to individuals, taking into account their perception, cognition, and thought processes. The purpose of this research is to investigate the intricate relationship between visual attention directed towards historical architecture and the subjective experiences engendered during the process of observation. Utilizing eye-tracking technology within the realm of virtual reality, this study delves into the observation patterns exhibited by individuals when confronted with historical architecture, specifically focusing on the traditional courtyard residences found in Beijing’s hutongs. The panoramic images, meticulously modeled and rendered, are divided into six distinct areas of interest: base, ground, window&doors, walls, roof, and eaves. The eye-tracking data of 81 participants, who engaged with 10 virtual scenes through the employment of VR headsets, along with their responses to architectural style questionnaires, were systematically gathered. Through comprehensive analysis, encompassing the examination of total fixation duration (TFD), fixation count (FC), first fixation duration (FFD), and time to first fixation (TFF) across the areas of interest (AOIs), in addition to deviations in scores among different architectural areas and styles, notable insights emerged. Results indicate that both professionals and non-professionals allocate heightened attention, as evidenced by TFD, FC, TFF, and FFD, to elements that exhibit greater score deviations in the questionnaires as opposed to those with smaller discrepancies. Moreover, the TFD and FC metrics pertaining to the Windows&doors AOI collectively constitute 40.20% and 40.71%, respectively. Undoubtedly, these figures signify the preeminent focal points within all AOIs. This underscores the pivotal role played by doors and windows in shaping individuals’ judgments pertaining to historical architectural styles. This research provides designers with valuable understanding of the cognitive patterns exhibited by individuals in engaging with aspects of history, which enable them to identify and preserve key elements associated with historical styles. Additionally, it establishes a fundamental cornerstone for future quantitative research endeavors centered around the preservation of historical architectural styles.

In contemporary architectural practices, the low-carbon and renewable characteristics of earth materials have resulted in their resurgence. However, current research on the thermal conductivity of earth materials fails to consider the influence of particle size distribution, leading to discreteness in conclusions and impeding the quantitative assessment of the thermal performance of these materials. This study focuses on a thermal conductivity calculation model based on the microscopic aggregation morphology of earth materials, which can objectively characterize the equivalent thermal conductivity of earth materials with an error of approximately 3.28%, to investigate the relationship between particle size distribution and the thermal conductivity. The article examines that the sand content has the greatest impact on thermal conductivity and the change in thermal conductivity of earth materials with different densities remains consistent. For earth materials with a density of 2000 kg/m³, the maximum thermal conductivity is achieved when the clay content is approximately 36%, with a range of 0.624-0.712 W/(m-K); the minimum thermal conductivity occurs when the clay content is approximately 45%, with a range of 0.589-0.602 W/(m-K). Subsequently, the study determines the optimal particle size distribution of clay, sand and gravel, which is 4.50:4.26:1.24, resulting in a minimum thermal conductivity, and the largest thermal conductivity is achieved with a particle size distribution of 3.60:5.00:1.40. The aforementioned research conclusions provide a theoretical reference for optimizing the thermal performance and preparation process of earth materials and promote the integration and application of earth materials in green building systems.

Rammed earth construction has long been operated as a manual process involving unsaturated loose soil compacted inside a formwork.Earth soil is a type of highly sustainable naturalistic raw material decomposable with minimum environmental impact, with diverse colour and properties along by default.In addition, the high thermal resistance and moisture-absorbing quality of rammed earth walls significantly benefit the passive environmental comfort of the established environment.However, the manual process of rammed earth construction is excessively time and labour-intensive and highly dependent on skilled workers.More importantly, the visual effects on the vertical surface have long been overlooked by designers and builders, which has the potential to fulfil the aesthetic variety of facades.However, distributing the earth material with various colours to the specific position hinges upon the advanced fabrication accuracy and skilled workers.This process is similar to working in a black box, where it is hard to evaluate and detect the fabrication situation.Therefore, to tap into the potential of rammed earth construction, this research aims to develop an automatic robotic system capable of constructing rammed walls with a customisable distribution of different soil layers precisely.

Pedestrian wind flow is a critical factor in designing livable residential environments under growing complex urban conditions. Predicting pedestrian wind flow during the early design stages is essential but currently suffers from inefficiencies in numerical simulations. Deep learning, particularly generative adversarial networks (GAN), has been increasingly adopted as an alternative method to provide efficient prediction of pedestrian wind flow. However, existing GAN-based wind flow prediction schemes have limitations due to the lack of considering the spatial and frequency characteristics of wind flow images. This study proposes a novel approach termed SFGAN, which embeds spatial and frequency characteristics to enhance pedestrian wind flow prediction. In the spatial domain, Gaussian blur is employed to decompose wind flow into components containing wind speed and distinguished flow edges, which are used as the embedded spatial characteristics. Detailed information of wind flow is obtained through discrete wavelet transformation and used as the embedded frequency characteristics. These spatial and frequency characteristics of wind flow are jointly utilized to enforce consistency between the predicted wind flow and ground truth during the training phase, thereby leading to enhanced predictions. Experimental results demonstrate that SFGAN clearly improves wind flow prediction, reducing Wind_MAE, Wind_RMSE and the Fréchet Inception Distance (FID) score by 5.35%, 6.52% and 12.30%, compared to the previous best method, respectively. We also analyze the effectiveness of incorporating the spatial and frequency characteristics of wind flow in predicting pedestrian wind flow. SFGAN reduces errors in predicting wind flow at large error intervals and performs well in wake regions and regions surrounding buildings. The enhanced predictions provide a better understanding of performance variability, bringing insights at the early design stage to improve pedestrian wind comfort. The proposed spatial-frequency loss term is general and can be flexibly integrated with other generative models to enhance performance with only a slight computational cost.

跌倒作为威胁老年人健康的主要风险因素,近年来得到多学科领域研究人员的广泛关注.通过对建成环境中老年人跌倒风险因素的国内外相关研究进展进行综述,系统梳理了关注热点及研究趋势、交叉学科领域分布、跌倒风险因素分类、跌倒风险评估工具和参数选取,并对该领域未来关注点进行了展望,为今后开展相关研究提供实证基础和经验总结,促进以降低环境跌倒风险为目标的适老环境设计.

本文选取豫北地区安阳、新乡两地的六个代表性的传统山地民居聚落为研究对象,基于卫星影像图、无人机采集的影像及建筑学测绘所获取的数据资料,从村落选址、聚落空间结构、院落朝向、院落布局与建筑形制等方面出发,对豫北山地传统民居聚落及建筑特征进行分析,揭示了在自然地理因素影响下,豫北地区山地民居聚落的形态演变及地域特征.

The thermal conductivity of earth materials is closely related to density and particle size distribution. However, existing studies on the thermal conductivity of these materials have neglected the influence of particle size distribution, leading to inconsistent results and hindering the quantitative evaluation of the thermal performance of earth materials. To promote the utilization of earthen building materials in energy-efficient design, this study establishes a quantitative assessment model for the thermal conductivity of earth materials, grounded in their microscopic agglomeration morphology and pore structure properties, through experimental analyses and theoretical derivation. The average prediction error of the model is about 1.77%, which improves the precision of characterizing the thermal conductivity of earth materials. Utilizing this model, the impact of clay, sand, and gravel content on the thermal conductivity of earth materials was investigated quantitatively. The findings reveal that the thermal conductivity of earth materials attains its minimum value when the sand content is approxi-mately 37.3%, and diminishes progressively with tthe increase of the clay content. The above findings offer a theoretical foundation for optimizing the thermal performance and fabrication process of earth materials, thereby fostering the integration and application of these materials in sustainable building systems.

前言 根据《北京市老龄事业发展报告(2019)》数据显示,北京的老年人口总体上呈现中心城区老龄化程度高,郊区相对较低的分布特征,尤其是东城区和西城区,65岁以上老龄人口比例达到17％,远高于全市平均水平,位于各区第一1.而广泛分布于北京老城的传统平房区由于形成年代较早、人口密集,老龄化问题尤其突出.2021年1月27日通过的《北京历史文化名城保护条例》中明确指出,要将"传统胡同"作为保护对象,推动成片传统平房区的保护和有机更新2.因此在目前以居家养老为基础的养老体系下,老年人群势必成为传统胡同空间的主要使用者,充分考虑老城老年居民的特征与需求,将会成为传统胡同保护与更新的重要环节.

Rammed earth(RE) is a low-tech recyclable building material with good heat storage and moisture absorption performance that can better maintain the stability of the indoor thermal environment and improve indoor comfort. With innovations in and the development of new technology, the field of rammed earth construction technology is gradually expanding. However, deficiencies in the thermal insulation of traditional rammed earth structures make it impossible for them to meet China’s building energy codes in cold regions. This study constructs a comprehensive evaluation index of the thermal performance of rammed earth walls that is based on the heat transfer mechanism, optimizing the thickness of the boundary conditions of the building interior’s design temperature, as well as the energy demand and economic efficiency. This research also offers a new design for the thermal insulation of rammed earth construction by combining the building energy savings design code with WUFI Pro software. This study demonstrates that the optimum thickness of rammed earth construction in Beijing is about 360 mm, the thickness of extruded polystyrene board (XPS) is 50 mm (for public buildings) and 70 mm (for residential buildings), and the structural form of external insulation offers the highest performance benefit. In addition, this work also evaluates the risk of condensation inside composite rammed earth construction, finding that there is a risk of condensation on the exterior side of the wall and at the interface between the insulation panels and rammed earth wall, thus requiring an additional moisture-proof layer. In this study, thermal mass and insulation are fully considered and a design strategy for rammed earth construction given quantitatively, providing a theoretical basis for the application of rammed earth materials in cold regions.

The thermal performance of buildings in the south of China focuses on thermal mass design, while in the north it favors thermal insulation design, which makes it impossible to achieve a balance between the thermal mass and insulation. Here, a comprehensive evaluation index is developed to measure the thermal performance of a building’s external envelope, which aims to find out the optimal range of the wall thickness under the influence of the thermal mass and insulation, and to seek the correct balance between a building’s energy consumption and the thermal performance of walls. In this paper, four dimensions, namely the heat transfer coefficient, thermal inertia index, attenuation degree, and delay time, are discussed, and the weight coefficients of each subfactor are calculated and isotropically treated to create comprehensive evaluation indicators. Then the distribution laws of the composite index values of common building materials in different climatic zones are examined. The result shows that the correlation coefficient (R2) between M and building energy consumption is about 0.7736–0.8215, which is higher than 0.3494–0.384, the heat transfer coefficient, and is more accurate in predicting building energy demands. Furthermore, through the analysis of the thermal improvement rate and the building energy-saving rate, the suitable wall thickness of commonly used building materials in different climate zones is determined, and the application prospects of the research results are described. With the above research findings, the thickness ranges of walls can be determined at the initial period of building design by combining regional environmental factors and material characteristics to provide a reference for building energy-saving design.

近年来快速发展的虚拟现实(VR)技术为疗愈环境的研究和应用提供了技术支撑,访问虚拟疗愈环境成为获得身心疗愈的一种途径.以Web of Science、ScienceDirect数据库和中国知网为依据,对2010—2022年发表的与虚拟疗愈环境领域相关的文献进行综述,系统梳理了虚拟疗愈环境的应用领域和呈现技术、疗愈效益的评价工具及影响因素.研究发现:1)虚拟疗愈环境在情绪干预、认知训练、运动康复等领域具有疗愈效益,疗愈场景一般包括虚拟自然景观、亲生物性环境等;2)虚拟疗愈环境的呈现技术可分为头戴式设备(HMD)和交互媒体界面2类;3)主观感知量表结合多种类型的生理指标是实证研究中常用的疗愈效益评价工具;4)除疗愈场景内容外,多感官因素和交互方式也是影响疗愈效益的重要因素.通过探讨目前实证研究中的局限性,为今后虚拟自然的恢复性效益、亲生物性环境设计等领域的研究和实践提供参考.

近年来,虚拟现实技术发展迅速,应用范围广泛.梳理了虚拟现实技术应用于光环境模拟的发展和方向,介绍了虚拟现实技术在光环境模拟领域的实现方式,研究单色光环境可视化,最后基于北京建筑大学室内光环境模拟试验室,进行了虚拟单色光环境构建,对现实光环境与虚拟光环境参数进行了测量,并组织114名在校大学生作为被试对现实光环境与虚拟光环境进行视觉一致性、愉悦度、唤醒度、视觉舒适度量表评价.探讨了兼顾有效性和操作性的虚拟现实光环境构建方法,探索了与现实单色光环境视觉感受趋近一致的虚拟光环境构建方式,进而对现实光环境与虚拟光环境进行评价,结果表明:虚拟光环境在光色和亮度方面可以比较真实的还原现实光环境,但对于某些色相的单色光还原度偏差较大;现实光环境与虚拟光环境在愉悦度、唤醒度、视觉舒适度方面表现出较高的一致性.

多感官环境干预是一种针对特定疾病的非药物干预疗法.该文针对老年人群体,结合相关案例对当前老年多感官干预环境的设计现状进行了分类研究.通过分析当前老年多感官干预环境中存在的问题,结合其他领域相关研究,提出了干预环境适老化、交互方式多样化、干预机制长效化、干预环境日常化四个老年多感官干预环境的未来发展方向.

AbstractUrban energy planning plays an essential role in guiding human settlements, from a neighborhood scale to a megacity scale, to a sustainable future. It is particularly challenging to integrate energy planning into the urban planning process, considering the urban system’s complexity, multi-objective decision making, and multi-stakeholder involvement. In this context, recent years have witnessed a significant development of urban building energy modeling (UBEM). With a trend toward performance-based urban planning, there is a rising need to introduce proper UBEM tools into the different planning phases. The main objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the UBEM tools across different urban planning phases, as well as to discuss to what extent these tools could provide decision-making support to stakeholders. The chapter starts with a brief discussion on emerging energy-related issues in urban development and why the conventional planning approach needs the integration of modeling tools to provide a quantitative evaluation to better respond to these new challenges. The state of the art of UBEM also is reviewed, followed by a description of the applications and limitations in different planning phases. Finally, several challenges and opportunities regarding energy-modeling-assistance urban planning are discussed.