Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The aim of this research is to propose a new and original passive cooling and ventilation system for the rural courtyard houses in Shuhe, Ankang, Shaanxi Province (China). The proposed system is completely passive and uses both a new designed vertical envelope for the buildings and the cold lines in the narrow streets of the traditional village. The paper shows the reached results in terms of numerical simulation.

The research is very interesting and shows a careful comprehension of the energy consumption issue in traditional residential buildings in a fast-growing nation like China.

However, in my opinion, there is a lack of literature review. The paper would increase in value if there was a reference to other studies on both urban canyons and traditional courtyard houses. Moreover, the cooling and the energy improvement of historical and traditional buildings are highly investigated and current issues. Please, consider the possibility to present and discuss other cases around the world about it.

The methodology and the simulated computing process are well described.

The conclusions report the results of numerical simulations. The next steps of this research should be able to better define the last goal mentioned in section 1.4 with a realistic example: i.e. a detailed refurbishment design.

The hypothesis of using cold lines and building a ventilated counter-wall is easily applicable in the renovation of courtyard buildings that have lost any architectural character of the era of construction. This solution would also be useful in cases of demolition and reconstruction of new rural buildings in the same blocks of the urban fabric of the village. Probably, when the refurbishment involves rural residential buildings that still have the typical morphological aspects of the Qing Dynasty era, the value of the historical evidence of traditional architecture could be masked by an envelope that hides the outer walls and part of the roof. In this case, less impactful solutions would be more suitable to avoid losing the identity value of the rural village.

Finally, review the following lines to correct the English form:

Line 24: “Since…summer”. The phrase seems incomplete.

Lines 163-167: The period is hard to read. Perhaps it would be better to break it down into several sentences.

Move Figure 3 to the place of Figure 4 and vice-versa, because in the text appears the comment to Figure 4 firstly and the one to Figure 3 after.

In my opinion, the paper can be accepted after minor revisions.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

I wish to commend your effort on seeking to publish this paper. Please find, in the file attached, details of comments which will help to raise the standard of this paper so that it can, indeed, be published. 

Best of Luck.

 

Originality / Novelty: There is a need to re-situate this study in the context of other studies on "Cold Lanes". This is lacking in the literature review. Please revisit this and verify. 

Significance of Content: As the Chinese population grows, these old buildings will be remodeled. This paper does not put this point forward as a significant contribution for contemporary/ future architecture 

Quality of Presentation: sentence structure and organisation needs to be improved

Scientific Soundness: rigorous research design based on the selected methodological approach is lacking. Is this a Case Study? If yes, it should be well introduced before the simulations by, introducing the advantage of a case study approach and explanation of why you chose the 30 samples for investigation in southern Shaanxi.

Interest to the readers: Adaption for contemporary architectural is interesting

 

Other major comments:

• Add sections to explain, how the research is relevant to contemporary architectural design
• Also add a detailed section for "Further research" such as architectural prototypes, heat control or system control. This adds value to the overall research contribution
• Referencing style, in-text and reference list, need to align with the Journal format. Please review

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

 

Reviewer 3 Report

It is well analyzed and showed clear result on the aspects of passive cooling in vernacular housing.

If the methodology and steps of investigation can be used for other locations in global context. I recommend to mention whether it can be applied for other geographical locations.

Following  things need clarification for final publication.

1. Case study area needs more detailed information such as wind rose to show the direction of dominant air flow. It seems to focus on stratification of the heat on cold lane and didn't count the influence of natural wind. If it is disregarded please clarify.
2. Table 5 shows population density as 1.1/room. Is there any reason to clarify this density? Any human factors influenced the research? If not, please clarify.
3. Fig.6 shows the power of cold lane. How specific case study spot is decided? Is the model case investigated represent average width and height?
4. Table 14  is missing tag of No WHR, Have WHR.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf