Search Results (153)

Numerous rural residential buildings exhibit inadequate seismic performance when subjected to blast-induced vibrations, which poses potential threats to their overall stability and structural integrity when in proximity to blasting project sites. The investigation conducted in conjunction with the Qianshi Mountain blasting operations along the Wenzhou segment of the Hangzhou–Wenzhou High-Speed Railway integrates household field surveys and empirical measurements to perform modal analysis of rural residential buildings through finite element simulation. Adhering to the principle of stratified arrangement and composite measurement point configuration, an effective and reasonable experimental observation framework was established. In this investigation, the seven-story rural residential building in adjacent villages was selected as the research object. Strong-motion seismographs were strategically positioned adjacent to frame columns on critical stories (ground, fourth, seventh, and top floors) within the observational system to acquire test data. Methodical signal processing techniques, including effective signal extraction, baseline correction, and schedule conversion, were employed to derive temporal dynamic characteristics for each story. Combined with the Fourier transform, the frequency–domain distribution patterns of different floors are subsequently obtained. Leveraging the structural dynamic theory, time–domain records were mathematically converted to establish the structure’s maximum response spectra under blast-induced loading conditions. Through the analysis of characteristic curves, including floor acceleration response spectra, dynamic amplification coefficients, and spectral ratios, the dynamic response patterns of rural residential buildings subjected to blast-induced vibrations have been elucidated. Following the normalization of peak acceleration and velocity parameters, the mechanisms underlying differential floor-specific dynamic responses were examined, and the layout principles of measurement points were subsequently formulated and summarized. These findings offer valuable insights for enhancing the seismic resilience and structural safety of rural residential buildings exposed to blast-induced vibrations, with implications for both theoretical advancements and practical engineering applications. Full article

Precise extraction of rural settlements in alpine regions is critical for geographic data production, rural development, and spatial optimization. However, existing deep learning models are hindered by insufficient datasets and suboptimal algorithm structures, resulting in blurred boundaries and inadequate extraction accuracy. Therefore, this study uses high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing images to construct a specialized dataset for the extraction of rural settlements in alpine mountainous areas, while introducing an innovative shadow mitigation technique that integrates multiple spectral characteristics. This methodology effectively addresses the challenges posed by intense shadows in settlements and environmental occlusions common in mountainous terrain analysis. Based on the comparative experiments with existing deep learning models, the Swin Transformer was selected as the baseline model. Building upon this, the Feature Fusion Swin Transformer (FF-SwinT) model was constructed by optimizing the data processing, loss function, and multi-view feature fusion. Finally, we rigorously evaluated it through ablation studies, generalization tests and large-scale image application experiments. The results show that the FF-SwinT has improved in many indicators compared with the traditional Swin Transformer, and the recognition results have clear edges and strong integrity. These results suggest that the FF-SwinT establishes a novel framework for rural settlement extraction in alpine mountain regions, which is of great significance for regional spatial optimization and development policy formulation. Full article

Rapid urban development has exacerbated heat events. Vulnerable groups, due to deficiencies in physical functions and social support, often face higher health risks and survival pressures during heat events. Effectively identifying and assessing the heat risks they face and developing effective management strategies still pose many challenges. This study develops a heat risk assessment model based on the “hazard–accessibility–vulnerability” framework, incorporating circuit theory modeling to assess the health benefits of ventilation corridors for vulnerable populations and identifying high-temperature risk areas to better support science-based planning. The results show the following: (1) The urban heat island levels in the study area were classified based on the mean-standard deviation method, identifying that high-level heat islands account for 14.2% of the total area, with surface temperatures in urban built-up areas being significantly higher than in rural areas. (2) Based on the circuit theory model, 54 ventilation corridors were identified and 12 major corridors and 42 minor corridors were determined. (3) Based on the thermal risk assessment model, five residential areas covering 1.45 km² were identified as having the highest thermal risk, and 5.68 km² of residential areas had an imbalance between the ventilation demand and ventilation supply for vulnerable populations. This study innovatively assesses the health benefits of urban ventilation corridors from a social equity perspective and proposes urban renewal strategies such as introducing ventilation corridors, adjusting building layouts, enhancing green infrastructure, and promoting cooling technologies, offering new insights for future research. Full article

In this work, the indoor thermal environment and indoor air quality of rural houses in Northern China were investigated in detail. The current heating situation in rural areas, the causes of indoor air pollution, and the indoor ventilation habits of residents were analyzed. The indoor thermal environment and indoor air quality were improved by upgrading the thermal insulation of the rural housing envelope and installing indoor ventilation systems with heat recovery, leading to an average indoor temperature increase of 6 °C. The Predicted Mean Vote reached approximately 1.0, so the human body heat sensation was more moderate. The air age was greatly reduced, and the indoor air quality was significantly improved. The Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied dramatically decreased to 15%. Thus, when focusing on heat source renovation in rural areas, priority should be given to improving the energy efficiency of buildings, especially the building envelope insulation performance. Ventilation and air exchange systems with heat recovery are inexpensive and effective, and they are suitable for rural dwellings where the temperatures are not as high as they should be but where the indoor air quality is poor and ventilation is urgently needed. Full article

Urban water management faces growing pressure from population growth, pollution, and climate variability, demanding innovative strategies to ensure long-term sustainability. This study applies the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) across four case studies in Brazil and Germany, evaluating integrated systems that combine constructed wetlands for greywater treatment with rainwater harvesting for non-potable use. The scenarios include a single-family household, a high-rise residential building, a rural residence, and worker housing. A multi-criteria analysis was conducted to derive consolidated sustainability indicators, and sensitivity analysis explored the influence of dimension weighting. Results showed that water reuse scenarios consistently outperformed conventional counterparts across environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) revealed notable reductions in global warming potential, terrestrial acidification, and eutrophication. Life Cycle Costing (LCC) confirmed financial feasibility when externalities were considered, especially in large-scale systems. Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) highlighted the perceived benefits in terms of health, safety, and sustainability engagement. Integrated water reuse systems achieved overall sustainability scores up to 4.8 times higher than their baseline equivalents. These findings underscore the effectiveness of decentralized water reuse as a complementary and robust alternative to conventional supply and treatment models, supporting climate resilience and sustainable development goals. Full article

This study initially examined the thermal comfort of rural residents in southern Jiangsu, analyzing their tolerance levels and expected temperature ranges during winter and summer. Subsequently, Design Builder 7.02.004 software was utilized to simulate the energy consumption of typical residential buildings. Furthermore, an orthogonal test method was employed to investigate the significant relationships among seven factors influencing building energy consumption in both winter and summer. These factors include external wall heat transfer coefficient, roof heat transfer coefficient, external window heat transfer coefficient, external window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), window-to-wall-area ratio, air tightness, and building orientation. Finally, based on the findings from the thermal comfort study, recommended passive design parameters for near-zero-energy residential buildings in southern Jiangsu were proposed. This provides valuable references for the future construction efforts of such buildings within this region. Full article

The construction industry, characterized by high energy consumption and carbon emissions, plays a pivotal role in climate change mitigation. This paper employs bibliometric analysis, based on 282 articles from the SCIE and SSCI in the Web of Science spanning 1992–2022, to explore research trends and themes in Carbon Emissions of Construction Industry (CECI). A manual review was conducted to identify challenges and possibilities concerning accounting scales, objects, boundaries, and methods in CECI research. Key findings include (1) temporal and thematic evolution, with a notable increase in research activity since 2015, primarily focusing on energy efficiency, sustainable development, green building technologies, and policy evaluation; (2) scale-specific gaps, as 80.7% of studies are conducted at macro (national/regional) or micro (building/material) levels, while city-scale analyses are significantly underrepresented, with only 13 articles identified; (3) object granularity deficiencies, with 74.8% of studies not distinguishing between building types, resulting in rural residential, educational, and office buildings being significantly underrepresented; (4) system boundary limitations, as few studies account for emissions from building demolition or the disposal and recycling of construction waste, indicating a substantial gap in life-cycle carbon assessments. Furthermore, the predominant reliance on the carbon emission factor method, along with embedded assumptions in accounting processes, presents challenges for improving carbon accounting accuracy. This review synthesizes insights into prevailing research scales, object classifications, system boundaries, and methodological practices, and highlights the urgent need for more granular, lifecycle-based, and methodologically diverse approaches. These findings provide a foundation for advancing CECI research toward more comprehensive, accurate, and context-sensitive carbon assessments in the construction sector. Full article

This study explores how integrating design processes into the native timber industry of southern Chile, specifically in the Araucanía and Los Ríos regions, can improve the value chain and promote sustainability. Chile’s native wood sector is constrained by fragmented value chains, underutilised small-diameter logs and limited market confidence. These challenges jeopardise forest sustainability and rural livelihoods, underscoring the imperative to find innovative solutions to reinvigorate the sector. A market gap analysis revealed critical limitations in the current industry, including low supply, limited demand, and weak technological development, especially in producing value-added wood products. The research identified over 417,000 hectares of second-growth roble (Nothofagus obliqua)-raulí (Nothofagus alpina)-coigüe (Nothofagus dombeyi) forests suitable for sustainable management. Interviews with woodworking SMEs showed that 66% already use native timber, yet 46% of the projected volume remains underutilised due to the prevalence of short and thin logs. In response to these challenges, the study developed innovative prototypes such as interior claddings and lattices made from smaller, underutilised logs. These designs were evaluated and validated for use in residential and public buildings, demonstrating their potential to meet new market demands while promoting resource efficiency. The results show that, whilst there is a clear need for better infrastructure, workforce training, and commercial planning to support product adoption, design-driven innovation offers a promising path forward enhancing the industry’s competitiveness. Demonstrating how design-led integration can transform under-used native timber into high-value products, simultaneously driving sustainable forest stewardship and local economic growth. Full article

Mitigating carbon dioxide emissions in the building sector is a primary global goal. This paper compares different residential buildings in urban and rural regions of Hajdú-Bihar County (Hungary). Significant differences were found between urban and rural single-family houses concerning their energy performance; however, the differences in CO₂ emissions were not significant. Only the differences in specific heat losses were significant between urban single-family and masonry-structured multifamily buildings. Panel buildings demonstrate the best energy performance from their construction period, but due to high investment costs and the inability to change the heat source, the CO₂ emissions from these buildings have a lower limit today. In both single-family houses and masonry-structured multifamily buildings, meeting the heat demand can be achieved with zero CO₂ emissions using existing technologies. Full article

Using ArcGIS software to conduct spatial autocorrelation analysis, it was found that the price distribution of rural homestays in Suzhou is not random but shows apparent spatial clustering. Among the 81 rural homestays were 9 high-high clusters, 25 low-low clusters, 1 high-low outlier, and 5 low-high outliers. The hedonic price model is an economic model that breaks down goods or services into multiple attributes to estimate their prices. Based on this model, this paper further investigates the differentiated impacts and interactions between internal accommodation characteristics and external environmental attributes in the pricing mechanism of rural homestays in Suzhou. The results show that (1) the high-priced rural homestays in Suzhou are concentrated in the lake island resort with good natural environment and perfect infrastructure; (2) the location, facility quality, and network score of rural homestays have a positive impact on housing prices; (3) the parking lot of rural homestays hurts housing prices; (4) the quality of rural residential buildings and facilities has the most significant positive impact on housing prices. By comparing the hedonic price model of rural homestay and the heterogeneous preferences of consumers, this study provides rural homestay operators with effective room pricing strategies and marketing implications, provides policymakers with reference factors to promote the development of rural homestay industry, and has specific guiding significance for the sustainable development of the homestay industry. Full article

The aim of this article is twofold: to identify physical rural characteristics that persist after villages undergo urbanization, and to propose an appropriate planning “language” for preserving them. The article contributes to the literature, as current studies addressing rural preservation focus on the early stages of urbanization and on several physical preservation recommendations, most of which emphasize residential buildings alone. The article addresses the case study of Jewish villages established in pre-statehood Palestine. These comprise dozens of settlements planned based on European models and built from the late nineteenth century until World War I. Most underwent urbanization and evolved into towns or large cities. The study identifies rural characteristics that have endured and explores how they can be preserved through contemporary planning. The findings reveal that in all major cities examined, large open areas have been preserved within the former farmyards located behind the pioneers’ residential buildings. The article argues that beyond the preservation of original structures, historical trees, and gardens, particular importance should be placed on preserving these former farmyards as intra-urban open spaces. Maintaining sightlines from the streets toward these areas and enabling movement into them will help retain the rural features of the former villages. Full article

As China’s urbanisation continues, the building area is expanding, of which the occupancy of rural residential buildings is also very large. However, most rural dwellings lack insulating structures and have poor thermal performance. This paper verifies and analyses the energy-saving potential of green façades for rural houses in northern China through comparative experiments as well as software simulations. The experiments were conducted from July to August 2024 to verify the reliability of the software simulations. And the simulation was carried out on an existing house in rural northern China. The experimental results show that the reference room consumes 1.84 times more electricity than the vertical greenery room, and the vertical greenery achieves a good energy saving of 45.75%. According to the simulated data, the building energy efficiency of rural houses in northern China after green façade retrofitting is obvious, the energy-saving rate reaches 14.94%, and 713.32 KWh of electricity can be saved in the whole cooling period. Full article

Condensation assessment of a residential building in Changsha, China-located in the hot summer and cold winter climate zone-was conducted during the Plum Rain Season (PRS) using Energy Plus simulations and field measurements. Window-opening behaviour significantly influences indoor air quality and thermal comfort. This study specifically examines how window-opening patterns, including opening duration and opening degree, affect interior surface condensation risk in a rural residential building during PRS. Results indicate that window operational status (open/closed) exerts a dominant influence on condensation risk, while varying window opening degrees during identical opening duration showed negligible differential impacts. Critical temporal patterns emerged: morning window openings during PRS should be avoided, whereas afternoon (15:00–18:00) and nighttime (18:00–06:00) ventilation proves advantageous. Optimisation analysis revealed that implementing combined afternoon and nighttime ventilation windows (15:00–18:00 + 18:00–06:00) achieved the lowest condensation risk of 0.112 among evaluated scenarios. Furthermore, monthly-adjusted window operation strategies yielded eight recommended ventilation modes, maintaining condensation risks below 0.11 and providing occupant-tailored solutions for Changsha’s PRS conditions. These findings establish evidence-based guidelines for moisture control through optimised window operation in climate-responsive building management. Full article

Confronted with the climate emergency, reducing CO₂ emissions has become a priority for all nations of the world because the follow-up of humanity depends on it. Most European Union (EU) member states have pledged to cut their net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and reach full carbon neutrality by 2050, using 1990 as the baseline year. Despite this common effort, there is still a lack of effective decision-making on carbon neutrality strategies applied throughout the life cycle of a building in all EU countries. A common strategy is proposed in this study to fill this gap in the literature. The building sector is a real lever for reducing the carbon footprint and saving energy. Currently, the methodology for achieving large-scale carbon neutrality is well established. However, there is only a limited number of experts worldwide who have mastered this technology, making it challenging to develop a standardized approach for all nations. The absence of extensive, regular, and consistent data on carbon emissions has considerably hindered the understanding of the root causes of climate change at both the building and neighborhood levels. Is it not it time to break this barrier? With this in mind, this study was carried out with the intention of proposing a common method to achieve carbon neutrality at the neighborhood scale in European Union countries. The most significant parameters having a direct impact on carbon emissions have facilitated the adaptation of the three types of neighborhood in the different capitals of the EU countries, in particular, local building materials, microclimate, the energy mix of each country, and the mode of daily transport. The life cycle assessment of the three districts was conducted using the Plaides LCAv6.25.3 tool in combination with Meteonorm software version 8.2.0, considering a 100-year lifespan for the buildings. In addition, the cost of the various environmental impacts is assessed based on the monetary indicators for European Committee for Standardization indicators method. The main results showed that the distribution of carbon dioxide is 73.3% higher in urban areas than in sustainable neighborhoods and 39.0% higher in urban districts than in rural districts. Nearly zero emissions in the next decade are again possible by applying the scenario involves global warming combined with the complete (100%) renovation of all buildings and the transition to 100% electric vehicles along with the use of solar panels. This strategy makes it possible to reduce between 90.1% and 99.9% of the emission rate in residential districts regarding EU countries. Full article

The development of global nature reserves is currently in a rapid growth phase. One of the key challenges in establishing nature reserves is balancing environmental protection with rural residential development within these areas, where housing plays a crucial role in the built environment. Successful residential architecture in nature reserves typically meets residents’ diverse needs and environmental protection requirements by considering regional ecology, culture, economic conditions, natural environment, indoor thermal comfort, and energy consumption. This study examines rural residential buildings in the Mengda National Nature Reserve (MNNR) under cold climate conditions in Western China. Through surveys, architectural mapping, and thermal–humidity environment assessment of typical residential buildings across multiple rural communities within the nature reserve, this research explores possibilities for improving indoor thermal comfort in nature reserve residential buildings. Combined with local climate adaptability and architectural design characteristics, this study proposes rational spatial improvement strategies. This study explores climate-adaptive design in the MNNR, integrating passive solar energy and sustainable heating. It proposes spatial strategies to reduce energy use and enhance thermal comfort. The research findings provide a valuable reference for the spatial optimisation of rural residential construction in nature reserves under similar climatic conditions. Full article