Assessment of Energy Saving Potential from Heating Room Relocation in Rural Houses Under Varying Meteorological and Design Conditions

Space layout design has been recognized as a key technical challenge in achieving low-energy and low-carbon rural houses. Adjustment of room location can influence building energy performance and is subject to both meteorological and design parameters. To elucidate the impact of these parameters on the energy saving potential of room relocation (ESR), this study investigated rural houses in Northwest China using dynamic simulations to compare the relative energy saving rates (RES) associated with three types of single heated room location changes: from the west side to the middle (WM), from the east side to the middle (EM), and from the west side to the east side (WE). Simulations were conducted across different climate regions (Lhasa, Xi’an, Tuotuohe, and Altay) and design parameters, including exterior wall U-value, building orientation (BO), building height (BH), and window-to-wall ratio (WWR). Additionally, the maximum differences in energy consumption (MD) among six layouts with multiple heated rooms were assessed. The results demonstrated that ESR varied significantly with room relocation. The ranges of RES_WM, RES_EM, and RES_WE were −7.89% to 13.20%, −7.82% to 10.25%, and −2.29% to 3.36%, respectively. The MD values ranged from 2.42% to 15.01%. For single heated rooms, including direct normal irradiance (I_dn), the difference between east and west solar-air temperature (△T_sa), outdoor dry bulb temperature (T_e), exterior wall heat transfer coefficient (U), and WWR significantly influenced RES_WM and RES_EM. The ranking of the factor contributions was U > △T_sa > I_dn > T_e > WWR for RES_WM and U > I_dn > △T_sa > T_e > WWR for RES_EM. In the case of RES_WE, I_dn, △T_sa, T_e, exterior wall U value, and BO had significant effects, ranking I_dn > △T_sa > T_e > BO > U. For MD, the key influencing factors were I_dn, △T_sa, T_e, exterior wall U value, and WWR, which were ranked as I_dn > △T_sa > U > T_e > WWR. The effects of design parameters on ESR varied under different climatic conditions. In high-temperature regions, the exterior wall U-value had a stronger influence on the ESR of WE. In regions with larger |△T_sa|, BO exerted a more pronounced effect on the ESR of WE. In regions characterized by high temperatures and radiation, WWR and BH significantly influenced the ESR of WM and EM. Similarly, in these regions, WWR and BH exhibited a greater impact on MD. Finally, among the meteorological parameters, I_dn and △T_sa were significantly correlated with ESR (p < 0.01). These findings provide a valuable reference for the energy-efficient layout design of rural houses in Northwest China and cold regions and support the future development of intelligent and automated rural residential spatial layout design.