The climate response prototype of dwellings built by indigenes: taking the temperate climate as an example

Abstract

Shielding humanity from climate change is a critical global issue. However, modern building design often relies on simplified environmental assumptions, leading to highly insulated and tightly sealed envelopes that maintain a constant indoor climate at the cost of substantial energy consumption. Conversely, indigenes worldwide have historically constructed dwellings that respond to local climate without relying on fossil energy. The present paper investigates the evolution of traditional dwellings built by indigenes over the past hundred years. By integrating climate potential analysis, architectural data mining from the literature, field measurements, and drawing upon the concept of prototype, the present study proposes a set of prototypical climate-responsive factors. The results indicate that shading of deep window openings, thermal inertia of the envelope, width-to-depth ratio, and thermal resistance of the envelope are key factors for dwelling performance in temperate climates. For traditional dwellings, these factors exhibit linear relationships with climate potential. Compared with modern building standards, these prototypical factors reflect a more comprehensive utilization of climatic resources rather than an approach based on environmental isolation. The findings highlight that even in temperate climate regions, shading, thermal mass, passive solar heating, and insulation remain essential, and the design should be guided by comprehensive performance indicators. This work provides quantitative design benchmarks for climate-responsive dwellings in temperate climates, and advances the study of the relationship between architecture and climate.